OUTLINE  STUDIES 


OF 

SOME  FUNDAMENTAL  PRINCIPLES 

AND  TESTED  POLICIES 

OF  THE 

NORTH  AMERICAN  YOUNG  MEN’S  CHRISTIAN 

ASSOCIATIONS 


BY 

PAUL  SUPER 

Secretarial  Bureau,  International  Committee  of 
Young  Men’s  Christian  Associations 


^sisioctatton  $ref(s! 

New  York:  124  East  28th  Street 
London:  47  Paternoster  Row,  E.C. 


Copyright,  1917,  by 
The  International  Committee  of 
Young  Men’s  Christian  Associations 


FOREWORD. 


The  recent  rapid  growth  of  Training  Centers  to  provide  instruction  and  coaching  for  preparatory  and 
supplementary  training  of  the  local  Association  staff  has  demanded  material  for  teaching  purposes.  Pending 
the  publishing  of  a  series  of  text-books  on  Association  work  that  it  is  hoped  will  be  available  within  a  year, 
an  outline  for  the  teaching  of  principles  and  policies  has  been  urgently  needed. 


The  following  pages  embody  the  studies  made  by  the  author  while  a  local  secretary  and  used  by  him  in 
the  Training  Center  of  the  Honolulu  Association.  They  are  not  intended  to  be  more  than  a  mere  guide  to 
the  thoughts  of  the  teacher  as  he  further  prepares  the  various  lessons.  The  actual  method  in  their  use  will 
be  influenced  by  the  teacher’s  habit  of  mind  and  experience  in  teaching. 


These  statements  cover  the  essential  and  tested  elements  in  our  Association  i^olicies — on  which  points 
every  secretary  ought  to  have  a  clear  understanding. 


The  student,  by  marking  in  his  copy  of  Morse’s  History  each  reference  to  that  work  and  making  note  in 
its  pages  of  the  meaning  of  each  reference,  would  strengthen  both  his  understanding  and  his  memory  of  the 
fundamental  referred  to  in  each  case,  and  would  appreciate  also  the  historic  setting  of  each  fundamental. 


The  work  here  presented  is  largely  editorial.  It  has  not  been  considered  necessary  to  state  the  source  of 
cvi'ry  quotation;  indeed,  many  sentences  are  taken  bodily  from  standard  Association  literature  without  quo¬ 
tation  marks,  as  the  text  aims  to  be  a  compilation  of  principles  rather  than  an  original  essay  on  them. 


The  fundamental  statement  of  each  principle  is  the  result  of  criticisms  of  a  tentative  statement  submitted 
to  sixty  leading  Association  secretaries,  and  returned  either  approved  or  modified  by  forty-six  of  these  men. 
The  outline  represents  somewhat  of  a  consensus  of  opinion  that  all  these  things  are  fundamentals,  and  practi¬ 
cally  all  the  fundamentals. 

Discussion  of  methods  is  avoided  as  far  as  the  inteix'sts  of  clearness  will  permit.  The  statement  of  a  great 
gc'iieral  was  not  without  truth,  when  he  said,  “Get  your  principles  correct;  the  rest  is  detail.”  With  correct 
principles,  capable  and  earnest  men  will  find  siiewssfiil  methods. 


MIV.. 


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CONTENTS. 

PAGE 

I.  The  Paris  Basis .  7 

II.  The  Evangelical  Test .  9 

III.  The  Relation  of  the  Association  to  the  Church . 11 

IV.  AVork  for  Men  and  Boys  Only .  13 

V.  The  P'our-fold  Work .  14 

VI.  Volunteer  Control  and  Leadership .  17 

VH.  Trained  Employed  Leadership .  18 

Vm.  The  OccuPATitiN  of  Metropolitan  Fields .  21 

IX.  Each  Association  an  Independent  Local  Unit .  21 

X.  Supervisory  Agencies .  22 

XL  The  Association  Building,  and  Non-equipment  Work .  23 

XIL  Financial  Support .  23 

XIII.  Work  Among  Special  Classes  and  Groups .  24 

XIV.  Social  Service  Principles .  33 

XW  Relation  to  the  Missionary  Enterprise .  35 


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I 


CHAPTER  I.  THE  PARIS  BASIS  AND  THE  CENTRAL  OBJECTIVE. 


References:  “Principles  and  Organization  of  the  Y.  M.  C.  A.”  IMurray.  8-11,  28-37. 
“Relation  to  the  Churches.”  R.  C.  Morse.  10-13. 

“Y.  M.  C.  A.  Hand-book.”  18. 

“History  of  the  North  American  Y.  M.  C.  A.”  Morse.  21,  112,  279. 
“History  of  the  Y.  M.  C.  A.”  Doggett.  176-178. 

American  Youth,  June,  1915.  104. 

“Asilomar  Conference  Report  on  the  Central  Objective.” 


I.  The  Paris  Basis,  and  its  Use. 

1.  “The  Young  Men’s  Christian  Associations  seek  to  unite  those  young  men  who,  regarding  Jesus  Christ 
as  their  God  and  Saviour,  according  to  the  Holy  Scriptures,  desire  to  be  His  disciples  in  their  doctrine 
and  in  their  life,  and  to  associate  their  efforts  for  the  extension  of  His  Kingdom  among  young  men.” 

Morse,  279. 

Murray,  8  and  9. 

2.  Adopted  in  Paris,  France,  August  22,  1855,  by  the  first  Convention  of  the  World’s  Alliance  of  Young 
IMen’s  Christian  Associations.  Ratified  by  the  North  American  Associations  at  Montreal,  Canada, 
1856.  Reaffirmed  unanimously  fifty  years  later  in  Paris,  1905.  Morse,  112. 

3.  It  is  used  by  the  North  American  Associations  as  the  basis  of  their  union  with  the  National  Associa¬ 
tion  Movements  of  other  countries.  In  some  countries  it  is  used  as  the  test  of  active  membership. 
It  is  a  test  of  membership  applied  to  the  individual  rather  than  to  the  church  of  which  he  is  a  mem¬ 
ber,  a  personal  test  rather  than  a  church  test. 

“While  recognizing  that  in  Europe  the  ecclesiastical  feature  of  the  American  test  (the  evan¬ 
gelical  basis)  was  not  practicable,  the  (North  American)  convention  could  not  find  in  the  Paris 
Basis  a  substitute  for  this  test,  because  it  lacked  that  recognition  and  acceptance  of  church 
membership  which  was  fundamental  in  the  American  test.  Indeed  by  this  recognition  the 
American  Associations  avoided  what  would  have  been  considered  the  reproach  of  formulating 
and  enforcing  a  new  creed  of  their  own,  a  creed  which  would  give  the  misleading  impression  of 
their  having  formed  another  denomination.  The  Paris  Basis  therefore  did  not  supersede  on 
this  continent  the  Evangelical  Test;  it  was  accepted  and  adopted  as  in  entire  accord  doctrinally 
with  that  test,  and  as  furnishing  an  excellent  basis  of  world  fellowship.” — “Relation  to  the 
Churches,”  R.  C.  Morse. 

II.  Its  Meaning. 

1.  It  embodies  three  principles. 

a.  Personal  and  vital  Christianity  on  the  part  of  Association  active  members.  “Vital  Piety.” 

b.  The  spirit  of  evangelical  alliance  uniting  members  of  all  evangelical  churches. 

John  17-21.  “Interdenominational  comity.” 

c.  The  members’  activity  in,  and  responsibility  for,  the  extension  of  the  Kingdom  of  Christ  among 
young  men.  “Lay  responsibility  and  control.” 

2.  It  states  the  fact  that  the  Young  Men’s  Christian  Association  is  fundamentally  an  organization  to 
win  men  to  Christ  and  the  program  of  His  Kingdom.  This  is  called  the  “Central  Objective”  of  the 
Association. 

3.  The  Paris  Basis  shows  our  three-fold  aim: 

a.  To  train  Christian  young  men  in  right  thinking  and  right  living — “His  disciples  in  their  doctrine 
and  in  their  life.” 


7 


b.  To  save  non-Christian  young  men. 

c.  To  enlist  and  train  men  in  active  Christian  service. 

4.  It  involves  (a)  voluntary  association :  (b)  union  effort  of  Christians ;  (c)  young  men  the  aim :  (d)  doc¬ 
trine — know:  (e)  life — be:  (f)  the  idea  of  training  for  service. 

5.  It  shows  the  two  forces  at  work  in  Christianity. 

a.  Centripetal — “Come  unto  me.” 

b.  Centrifugal — “Go  ye.” 

6.  It  means  distinct  Association  work  by  young  men  and  boys  for  young  men  and  boys. 

7.  The  field  is  all  young  men  everywhere — a  world  field.  Murray.  35-37. 


III.  The  “Central  Objective.” 

With  this  as  our  basis,  obviously  the  fundamental  objective,  the  main  issue  of  the  Association,  is  the 
uniting  of  Christian  young  men  in  efforts  to  extend  the  Kingdom  of  Christ  among  other  men. 

1.  The  Development  of  the  Central  Objective. 

a.  As  indicated  in  the  first  London  Constitution — 1844.  “Improve  the  spiritual  condition  of  young 
men  in  the  drapery  and  other  trades.” 

b.  As  indicated  in  the  first  American  Constitution — Boston,  1851.  “The  improvement  of  the  spirit¬ 
ual  and  mental  condition  of  young  men.” 

c.  As  indicated  in  the  Paris  Basis — 1855.  See  above. 

d.  As  indicated  in  “Principles  and  Methods  of  Religious  Work,”  11,  first  paragraph.  “Its  con¬ 
trolling  purpose  is  the  making  of  Christian  men.” 

e.  As  indicated  in  the  “Central  Objective”  report — Asilomar,  1915.  “To  win  men  and  boys  to 
allegiance  to  Jesus  Christ  as  Lord  and  Saviour  and  to  enlist  and  train  them  in  service  for  the 
extension  of  His  Kingdom.” 

2.  The  Force  of  the  Central  Objective. 

a.  Dominating  all  departments. 

All  departments  of  the  Association  work  have  their  chief  value  to  the  Young  Men’s  Christian 
Association  to,  and  just  to,  the  extent  that  they  serve  this  end.  There  is  great  danger  that  Asso¬ 
ciations  will  regard  their  departments  as  their  chief  end.  Departments  must  be  regarded  as 
means  to  the  end  stated  in  the  Paris  Basis  and  Central  Objective.  The  Association  must  do  the 
thing  it  set  out  to  do. 

b.  Inspiring  all  activities. 

The  Central  Objective  must  inspire  all  activities  and  features,  and  be  a  basis  upon  which  their 
value  is  judged.  Results  secured  in  departmental  work — Educational,  Physical,  Boys’  Member¬ 
ship — should  be  judged  or  measured  more  frequently  by  their  relation  to  the  accomplishment  of 
the  chief  end  of  our  work.  For  instance,  fifty  renewals  this  month,  ten  Bible  Classes,  four  hundred 
men  in  gym  classes,  three  hundred  night  school  students,  six  boys  joined  the  church.  What  rela¬ 
tion  do  these  facts  have  to  associating  young  men  to  extend  Christ’s  Kingdom?  They  must  all 
be  made  to  have  a  bearing  on  evangelism.  We  must  learn  to  relate  all  activities  to  our  main 
issue,  use  equipment  to  get  spiritual  results,  give  every  activity  religious  value. 

c.  Guiding  in  the  choice  of  employed  officers  and  directors. 

They  should  be  chosen  because  of  their  ability  to  promote  this  chief  end. 

d.  Attracting  an  increasing  number  of  volunteer  workers. 

The  promotion  of  the  Central  Objective  as  our  aim  will  draw  big  men  to  our  cause  and  add  a 
large  number  of  earnest  men  and  boys  to  our  ranks.  More  men  and  boys  should  be  solicited  for 
membership  on  this  basis  of  Christian  service.  More  time  of  executives  should  be  given  to  the 
promotion  of  activities  uniting  these  men  to  extend  Christ’s  Kingdom.  The  fees  should  be  based 
on  some  men  and  boys  joining  for  this  purpose  and  should  be  low  enough  to  admit  of  it — a  fee 
distinct  from  payment  for  the  use  of  privileges.  (See  American  Youth,  June,  1915,  104,  and 
November,  1916,  1.) 

e.  Holding  us  to  our  task. 

Subscriptions  are  solicited  by  us  and  money  given  to  us  and  taken  by  us  on  the  basis  of  doing 
such  work  as  the  Paris  Basis  suggests.  We  must  realize  the  expectations  of  those  who  give  for 
this  work. 


f.  Serving  as  a  standard. 

Results  secured  along  the  line  of  the  Central  Objective  should  be  a  standard  of  Association  effi¬ 
ciency,  and  also  a  basis  of  measuring  the  success  of  an  employed  officer. 

3.  Things  that  threaten  the  Central  Objective. 

a.  Material  prosj^erity — 

The  addition  of  $75,000,000  worth  of  property  in  15  years. 

b.  The  need  of  strong  executives — chosen  sometimes  at  the  expense  of  religious  zeal. 

c.  Operating  departments  with  definite  aims  in  addition  to  the  spiritual  aim. 

d.  The  large  influx  of  uninstructed  active  members  and  undigested  associate  members. 

e.  The  tendency  of  great  organizations  to  “lose  edge.” 

“We  have  added  rooms.  Have  we  arranged  to  heat  them? — to  heat  new  departments  with  the 
fires  of  old  religious  zeal?  Let  us  not  do  a  lot  of  useful  things  and  fail  to  do  the  chief  thing.” — 
Bishop  McDowell. 

f.  It  has  been  said  of  the  old  monastic  orders  that  they  were  first  pious,  then  learned,  and  then 
decadent.  Let  the  Association  keep  its  religion  warm  while  scholarly. 

4.  Has  the  Association  been  loyal  to  its  objective? 

a.  There  is  criticism  that  some  Associations  are  not  effective  spiritually. 

b.  Some  employed  officers  are  not  promoting  religious  work  as  they  should. 

c.  Yet  the  Association  as  a  whole  is  today  the  most  religious  organization  it  has  ever  been.  (See 
“Annual  Survey  of  Religious  Work”  for  Bible  Study  and  Religious  Work  figures.) 

d.  Whereas  the  Associations’  material  equipment  increased  345  per  cent  from  1900  to  1915,  the  stu¬ 
dents  in  Bible  Classes  increased  445  per  cent,  and  the  contributions  to  Association  foreign  work 
over  1,200  per  cent.  The  “evangelize  the  membership”  movement  and  the  “religious  interview 
system”  have  produced  the  most  thorough  religious  work  the  Association  has  yet  achieved. 

IV.  Some  Comments. 

“It  seems  to  me  that  the  Paris  Basis,  if  accepted,  pledges  the  Association  not  merely  to  be  a  religious 
organization,  but  to  be  an  evangelistic  organization.” — A.  S.  Allen  of  Seattle. 

“The  spiritual  aim  should  pervade  everything  which  the  Association  does.” — Report  of  the  International 
Committee,  191G. 

“The  enlisting  of  men  for  the  Christian  life  and  volunteer  service  is  the  dominant  purpose  in  every  feature 
of  this  program.” — From  the  report  of  an  Industrial  Secretary. 

“To  vitalize  this  movement  and  to  dominate  its  vast  material  interests  with  spiritual  passion  should  be  a 
matter  of  chief  concern  to  all  who  have  at  heart  the  welfare  of  the  Brotherhood.” — John  R.  Mott. 

“Fidelity  to  the  central  objective  emphasizes  the  importance  of  a  specialization  on  the  religious  work 
by  qualified  workers  who  make  this  specialization  their  vocation,  and  thus  promote  the  efficiency  in  religious 
work  of  all  Association  workers  in  all  the  departments.” — R.  C.  Morse. 


II.  THE  EVANGELICAL  TEST. 

References:  “Relation  to  the  Churches.”  R.  C.  Morse.  8-16,  22-34. 

“Y.  M.  C.  A.  Hand-book”  48,  49,  105. 

“Principles  and  Organization  of  the  Y.  M.  C.  A.”  Murray.  11-27. 

“History  of  the  Boston  Y.  M.  C.  A.”  Doggett.  11,  12. 

“History  of  the  Y.  M.  C.  A.”  Doggett.  114-116. 

“History  of  the  Y.  M.  C.  A.”  Morse.  15-21,  91-93,  124-133,  279-281. 

“Report  of  the  Washington  Convention”  109-132. 

“Report  of  the  Toronto  Convention”  102-114. 

“Report  of  the  Cincinnati  Convention”  76-93. 

I.  The  Principle  Stated. 

1.  Active  or  voting  meml)ership  in  the  Young  Men’s  Christian  Associations  of  North  America  is  gov¬ 
erned  by  the  Evangelical  Test.  It  is  stated  in  the  combined  Detroit  and  Portland  Resolutions  of 
1868  and  ’69.  (“History  of  the  Y.  M.  C.  A.”  Morse.  279.)  “Resolved:  That,  as  these  organiza¬ 
tions  bear  the  name  of  Christian,  and  profess  to  be  engaged  directly  in  the  Saviour’s  service,  so  it 

9 


is  clearly  their  duty  to  maintain  the  control  and  management  of  all  their  affairs  in  the  hands  of  those 
who  profess  to  love  and  publicly  avow  their  faith  in  Jesus  the  Redeemer  as  Divine,  and  who  testify 
their  faith  by  becoming  and  remaining  members  of  churches  held  to  be  evangelical.  And  we  hold 
those  churches  to  be  evangelical  which,  maintaining  the  Holy  Scriptures  to  be  the  only  infallible 
rule  of  faith  and  practice,  do  believe  in  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ  (the  only  begotten  of  the  Father,  Kmg 
of  kings,  and  Lord  of  lords,  in  whom  dwelleth  the  fullness  of  the  Godhead  bodily,  and  who  was  made 
sin  for  us,  though  knowing  no  sin,  bearing  our  sins  in  his  own  body  on  the  tree)  as  the 
only  name  under  heaven  given  among  men  whereby  we  must  be  saved  from  everlasting  punishment 
and  to  life  eternal.” 

2.  The  Evangelical  Test  is  embodied  in  the  constitutions  of  the  local  Associations  usually  in  some  such 

words  as  this:  . 

“Those  members  eighteen  years  of  age  and  over  who  are  members  in  good  standing  of  Evangelical 
Churches  as  defined  by  the  International  Conventions  of  the  Young  Men’s  Christian  Associations  of 
North  America,  and  they  only,  shall  have  the  right  to  vote  and  hold  office.”  (“Model  Constitution,” 
Article  2,  Section  2.)  Or  the  provision  may  read  that  members  may  be  divided  into  active  and  asso¬ 
ciate  members, — that  active  membership  is  limited  to  members  in  good  standing  of  evangelical 
churches  and  that  only  active  members  can  vote  and  hold  office. 

3.  The  object  of  the  Evangelical  Test  is  to  keep  the  control  of  Association  affairs  in  the  hands  of  mem¬ 
bers  of  those  churches  whose  creeds  are  sufficiently  in  harmony  to  allow  them  to  work  together  without 
embarrassment  or  friction  or  compromise.  The  decision  as  to  which  churches  the  Evangelical  Test 
includes  is  left  ultimately  to  the  evangelical  churches  in  each  field.  If  the  evangelical  churches  in 
any  city  decide  that  the  Universalist  church  of  that  city,  for  instance,  is  evangelical,  the  Universalists 
are  granted  active  membership  in  that  local  Association. 

4.  The  Evangelical  Test  is  the  basis  upon  which  the  North  American  Associations  affiliate  with  each 
other  as  an  international  organization  and  only  “Evangelical  Test  Associations”  are  allowed  to  send 
voting  delegates  to  the  International  Conventions. 

5.  It  is  a  church  test  rather  than  an  individual  test.  It  puts  up  to  the  churches  the  question  of  whether 
a  man  is  eligible  for  active  membership  in  the  Association.  It  is  not  an  individual  test  such  as  the 
Paris  Basis  applies.  That  is,  it  leaves  the  decision  upon  a  man’s  character  in  the  hands  of  the  church 
which  grants  him  good  standing  within  its  membership. 

II.  The  History  of  the  Evangelical  Test. 

1.  The  American  Associations  began  with  the  Evangelical  Test  as  a  basis.  It  is  embodied  in  the  first 
constitution  of  the  first  Association,  organized  in  Boston,  Dec.  29,  1851.  (“History  of  the  Y.  M. 
C.  A.”  Doggett.  114-116.) 

2.  It  was  recommended  to  all  Associations  by  the  convention  of  the  Confederation  held  in  Buffalo,  June 
7,  1854.  The  Conventions  of  ’56,  ’66,  and  ’67  took  similar  action.  (“History  of  the  Y.  M.  C.  A.” 
Morse.  91.) 

3.  This  recommendation  was  re-enforced  by  a  resolution  at  the  Detroit  Convention  of  1868.  (“History 
of  the  Y.  M.  C.  A.”  Morse.  279.) 

4.  The  Evangelical  Test  took  its  present  form  in  a  resolution  adopted  by  the  Portland  Convention  of 
1869,  defining  an  evangelical  church  and  admitting  to  future  conventions  only  such  new  Associa¬ 
tions  as  adopted  the  Evangelical  Test.  No  existing  Associations  were  excluded.  (“History  of  the 
Y.  M.  C.  A.”  Morse.  91.) 

5.  In  recent  years  there  has  been  felt  a  desire  for  a  re-phrasing  of  the  Portland  Evangelical  Test  on  the 
ground  that  it  is  too  theological  and  polemic.  There  has  also  been  a  desire  in  some  quarters  to  sub¬ 
stitute  the  Paris  Basis  for  the  Evangelical  Test.  Certain  Student  Associations  have  chafed  under 
the  Evangelical  Test.  Those  holding  views  adverse  to  the  Evangelical  Test  agitated  the  question  and 
had  the  matter  made  one  of  the  leading  issues  of  the  Washington  Convention  of  1907.  As  the  dis¬ 
satisfaction  was  chiefly  on  the  part  of  the  college  delegates,  a  limited  exception  was  made  in  favor  of 
student  Associations,  and  it  was  voted  to  appoint  a  committee  to  consider  a  re-phrasing  of  the  defini¬ 
tion  of  evangelical  churches.  (See  report  of  Washington  Convention,  109-132.) 

6.  Toronto  Resolution — 1910. 

The  report  of  this  Commission  came  before  the  Toronto  Convention  of  1910,  but  action  was  post¬ 
poned  to  the  next  International  Convention  as  the  Commission  report  was  neither  adequate,  unan¬ 
imous,  nor  satisfactorj\  (The  Toronto  Report.  55,  102-114.) 

10 


7.  C'iiiciiiiuiti  — IDlli. 

The  question  of  the  Evangelical  "JVst  was  thoroughly  debated  at  the  (’incinnati  ( 'onvention,  which 
decided  to  make  no  change  whatever  and  the  Evangelical  Test  stands  as  phrased  at  the  i’ortland 
Convention  of  1869.  It  was  thought  by  many  that  the  purpose  of  the  Portland  Test  was  quite  clearly 
understood  and  that  it  was  undesirable  to  tinker  with  what  has  become  an  historic  document.  (Cin¬ 
cinnati  Convention  Keport,  76-93.  “History  of  the  Y.  M.  C.  A.”  Morse.  281.) 

III.  Comment. 

1.  The  real  debate  in  recent  years  has  been  more  on  the  phrasing  of  the  Portland  Test  than  on  the  fact 
of  the  Evangelical  Test  itself.  Wide  experience  over  a  long  period  of  years  has  fully  justified  tiic 
wisdom  of  the  Evangelical  Test. 

a.  It  was  acceptable  to  the  majority. 

b.  Associations  on  this  basis  have  grown  in  membership  and  local  influence  far  more  than  those 
which  tried  a  so-called  “broader”  basis. 

c.  The  large  majority  of  gifts  of  money  and  property  have  with  rare  exceptions  been  made  to  Evan¬ 
gelical  Test  Associations.  On  this  basis  they  have  acquired  over  $100,000,000  worth  of  buildings 
and  equipment  in  North  America. 

d.  It  is  these  Associations  that  have  drawn  into  the  secretarial  ranks  men  of  character  and  ability 
who  have  made  the  profession  their  life-work. 

e.  The  majority  of  Associations  on  other  than  the  Evangelical  Test  basis  have  either  died  or  adopted 
the  Evangelical  Test. 

f.  A  controversy  of  years’  standing  in  the  Young  Women’s  Christian  Association  was  settled  by  the 
adoption  of  an  Evangelical  Test  in  1906. 

2.  There  are  some  who  object  to  the  term  “active  member,”  thinking  that  all  who  join  the  Association 
should  become  members  and  desiring  to  create  a  class  of  members  designated  “Voting  members.” 
The  Young  Women’s  Christian  Association  has  attempted  a  solution  of  this  problem  by  dividing 
its  members  into  “Members”  and  “Electors.” 

3.  Some  Associations  require  an  additional  test  of  active  membership.  They  state  that  a  man  must 
not  only  be  a  member  of  an  evangelical  church,  but,  further,  that  he  must  assume  volunteer  duties 
in  the  Association  to  be  an  active  member.  The  Boston  Association  is  an  illustration  of  this. 


III.  THE  RELATION  OF  THE  ASSOCIATION  TO  THE  CHURCH. 

References:  “Relation  to  Churches.”  R.  C  Morse. 

“Y.  M.  C.  A.  Hand-book.”  18-21,  61-64. 

“History  of  the  Y.  M.  C.  A.”  Morse.  16-21,  124-133. 

“Principles  and  Methods  of  Religious  Work.”  11,  13-16. 

“Principles  and  Organization  of  the  Y.  M.  C.  A.”  Murray.  16,  38-42. 
“Chicago  Y.  M.  C.  A.  Oflicial  Bulletin,”  July,  1915. 

“Central  Objective  Report.”  3,  16,  22. 

“Working  Together.”  Bosworth-Hutchinson. 


I.  The  Principles  Stated. 


1.  The  relation  of  the  Young  Men’s  Christian  Association  to  the  Church  is  supplementary,  cooperative, 
and  interdenominational,  with  identity  of  interest. 

2.  “In  its  work  it  recognizes  the  church  as  a  primary  agency  in  permanently  caring  for  the  religious  life 
of  men  and  boys.”  (“Principles  and  Methods  of  Religious  Work.”  14.) 

3.  “The  Association  is  not  a  church,  does  not  substitute  or  perform  the  functions  of  the  Church,  but 
exists  primarily  to  serve  the  Church.”  (John  R.  Mott.) 

4.  It  is  not  a  rival  of  the  Church  nor  a  substitute  for  the  Church,  but  an  arm  of  the  Church  for  reaching 
men  and  boys. 

0.  “It  is  outside  only  of  the  divisions  sejjarating  the  denominations.  It  is  loyally  within  their  mem¬ 


bership  and  fellowships.”  (Morse.  19,  136.) 


11 


II.  The  Association  Loyal  to  the  Church. 


1 .  This  is  seen  by  the  adoption  of  the  Evangelical  Test  and  the  tenacity  with  which  the  Association  has 
held  to  this  test. 

2.  Resolution  at  the  Albany  Convention.  1866. 

“The  churches  to  which  our  members  belong  have  a  prior  claim  upon  their  sympathy  and  labors.” 
This  was  included  by  McBurney  in  a  list  of  principles  which  he  formulated  in  1888.  (“Life  of  Robert 
McBurney.”  Doggett.  145.) 

3.  Association  men  have  always  taken  an  active  part  in  church  and  inter-church  organizations  and 
movements. 

4.  The  Commission  on  the  “Central  Objective”  gives  the  following  as  the  second  of  the  two  objectives 
of  the  Association: 

“To  lead  the  men  and  boys  in  the  Association  membership  and  those  related  to  its  activities  to  vitally 
cooperate  with  the  church  in  winning  and  retaining  the  young  men  and  boys  of  the  community  for  its 
activities  and  membership.”  They  state  the  second  of  two  fundamentals  as: 

“Unless  our  employed  officers  take  the  church  more  seriously  and  more  clearly  demonstrate  that  we 
are  here  to  help  build  up  the  church  and  vitalize  her  activities  as  well  as  to  influence  the  lives  of  men 
religiously,  the  church  will  not  take  us  seriously.” 

This  last  comment, of  the  Commission  is  an  exhortation  to  those  secretaries  and  leaders  who  have 
been  loyal  to  the  Church  in  theory  only,  actually  to  “make  good”  on  their  protestations  of  loyalty. 


III.  Relation  to  Churches. 


In  addition  to  the  above,  the  following  points  are  of  importance : 


1.  The  Association  is  a  church  organization,  but  it  does  not  exist  for  any  one  church.  It  is  inter-church 
and  interdenominational.  It  is  not,  however,  non-denominational.  “It  is  the  cooperative  institu¬ 
tional  work  of  all  the  churches.”  (E.  E.  Stacy.) 

2.  The  Association  avoids  points  of  controversy  or  differences  between  evangelical  denominations. 
This  point  is  covered  in  many  constitutions  by  the  provision  of  Article  4,  Section  6,  in  the  “Model 
Constitution” — “No  question  of  a  sectarian  or  political  character  shall  be  acted  upon  or  discussed  in 
any  meeting  of  this  Association  or  of  its  directors.” 

3.  The  Association  should  cooperate  in  the  organization  and  federation  of  church  brotherhoods.  “We 
recognize  in  the  brotherhood  movemerit  and  in  such  other  movements  as  that  of  organized  classes  for 
men  and  boys  in  the  Sunday  School  great  potentialities  for  accomplishment.  We  rejoice  in  any 
measure  of  success  which  has  attended  them  and  we  desire  and  purpose  to  work  in  perfect  harmony 
with  them  whether  in  the  ranks  or  in  the  furnishing  and  training  of  strong  and  loyal  leaders  for  their 
activities.”  (Declaration  of  the  Employed  Officers’  Conference,  1911.) 

4.  The  relations  of  any  specific  church  to  the  Association  are  likely  to  be  the  result  of  the  attitude  of  its 
pastor.  The  Association  Secretary  should  cultivate  the  friendship  and  cooperation  of  the  pastors  of 
the  churches.  One  of  the  best  ways  of  securing  such  cooperation  is  the  giving  of  cooperation. 

5.  What  have  the  churches  a  right  to  expect  of  the  Association? 


a.  That  the  Association  will  lead  men  into  the  Christian  life  and  into  church  membership. 

b.  That  it  will  discover  and  train  leaders  for  all  sorts  of  church  and  Sunday  school  activities. 

c.  That  it  will  relate  newcomers  to  the  church  of  their  preference. 

d.  That  it  will  arrange  its  activities  so  as  not  to  conflict  with  established  church  customs  and  gath¬ 
erings. 

e.  That  it  will  help  in  inter-church  movements. 

f.  That  it  will  lead  men  into  the  ministry. 

g.  That  the  Association  will  counsel  with  church  officers  concerning  Association  plans,  and  give 
counsel  in  return  when  sought. 

h.  That  the  Association  building  will  be  available  for  certain  church  and  inter-church  gatherings  of 
men. 

i.  That  it  will  cooperate  in  evangelistic  campaigns. 

j.  That  it  will  cooperate  in  unified  publicity. 

6.  Rev.  Charles  W.  Gilkey  has  expressed  the  matter  of  the  relation  of  the  Association  and  the  Church  in 

this  way: 


Me  lia«  urged  the  cultivation  first  of  a  sense  and  eonseiousuess  of  identity  with  the  Church  -that  “she 
belongs  to  us  and  we  belong  to  her,  and  we  both  belong  to  Cdirist.”  Second,  that  w(‘  cultivate  a  sense 
of  subordination  to  the  Churefi — -think  of  ourselves  as  an  arm  reaching  out  for  things  for  the  Chureh, 
and  remember  that  the  arm  must  consider  the  interests  of  the  liody.  Third,  that  we  cultivate  a  spirit 
of  service  to  the  Church. 


IV.  WORK  FOR  MEN  AND  BOYS  ONLY. 

References:  “History  of  the  Y.  M.  C.  A.”  Morse.  75-79,  82,  120,  121,  140. 

“Association  Hand-book.”  16,  44,  59,  255. 

“Principles  and  Organization.”  Murray.  46. 

American  Youth,  June,  1915.  110-113. 

I.  The  Principles  Stated. 

1.  The  Association  is  a  work  for  young  men  and  boys  by  young  men  and  boys.  This  was  the  first  of 
McBurney’s  “Settled  Principles”  formulated  in  1888,  but  then  stated  “that  the  work  shall  be  for 
young  men  only.”  Within  the  past  twenty-five  years  the  boy  has  come  to  be  recognized  as  of  equal 
importance  with  the  man,  and  this  fact  receives  due  recognition  in  the  present  day  statement  of 
principles.  It  is  primarily  for  men  and  boys  between  the  ages  of  twelve  and  thirty-five  or  forty. 

2.  Prior  to  1880  a  number  of  Associations  undertook  general  work  in  which  activities  for  women  and 
girls  were  included.  It  was  not  until  well  into  the  80’s  that  the  Chicago  Association  eliminated  women 
from  its  active  membership.  The  old  “Association  Hand-book,”  published  in  several  editions  around 
1890,  stood  clearly  for  the  restriction  of  our  field  to  men  and  boys  only.  (“Hand-book.”  16,  17,  44, 

45,  59,  60.)  Since  1880  it  has  been  recognized  as  a  fundamental  principle  that  men  and  boys  only 
constituted  the  field  of  the  Association.  (“Principles  and  Organization  of  the  Y.  M.  C.  A.”  Murray. 

46. ) 

3.  The  facts  about  young  men  show  the  great  need  for  an  organization  to  devote  all  its  energies  to  work 
for  men  and  boys  only. 

a.  They  are  the  most  important  element  for  good  or  evil  in  a  community.  Young  men  have  physical 
power,  financial  power,  power  as  leaders,  and  poAver  due  to  having  many  years  to  live.  These 
powers  will  be  either  dissipated  or  directed,  wasted  or  conserved.  This  task  of  conservation  and 
direction  justifies  such  a  movement  as  the  Young  Men’s  Christian  Association.  The  magnitude 
of  the  undertaking  necessitates  consecration  to  work  for  men  and  boys  only. 

I).  Young  men  as  a  class  are  more  exposed  to  evil  influences  than  any  other  class, 
c.  Large  numbers  of  young  men  are  absent  from  home  and  its  influence. 

(1.  The  ordinary  ag(mcies  of  the  Church  have  not  successfully  reached  young  men.  Church  leaders 
agree  that  they  need  such  an  agency  as  the  Young  Men’s  Christian  Association. 

,  e.  Young  men  properly  approached  are  very  open  to  good  influences.  They  are  easily  reached  and 
jAowerfully  influenced  by  other  young  men.  They  are  readily  as.sociated  in  an  organization,  and 
can  thus  most  effectively  bring  one  another  under  good  influences.  The  Association  utilizes  this 
tendency. 

4.  Over  seventy  years’  experience  shows  that  the  permanency  and  success  of  individual  Associations 
dcpi'iid  upon  tlieir  confining  themselves  to  this  one  definite  object,  work  for  young  men  and  boys. 


II.  The  Question  Reappearing. 

J .  Within  the  past  five  j^ears  tliere  has  been  a  tendency  for  some  Associations  to  allow  their  equii)nient 
to  be  used  l)y  women  and  girls  under  several  conditions. 

a.  In  some  small  towns  the  constituents  of  the  Association  have  demanded  that  its  privileges  Ixi 
opened  to  women  and  girls  for  limited  afternoons  and  evenings  several  days  a  week.  Some  Asso¬ 
ciations  have  yielded  to  this,  but  only  under  severe  pressure. 

b.  In  industrial  and  rural  communities  the  complete  solution  of  the  problems  of  men  and  boys  at 
times  reciuired  that  something  be  done  for  the  women  and  girls.  Tlie  family  has  frequently  to  be 
treated  as  a  unit,  and  the  men  and  boys  as  part  of  the  family. 

13 


e.  Some  of  our  leaders  are  entirely  willing  to  have  the  equipment  usetl  by  women  and  girls  when 
such  use  does  not  affect  the  Association’s  work  for  men  and  boys.  “The  use  of  its  institutional 
equipment  and  privileges  need  not  be  withheld  from  women  and  girls  at  such  hours  and  under 
such  conditions  as  will  not  impair  the  Association’s  service  to  men  and  boys.”  (W.  M.  Wood.) 

2.  Under  none  of  these  circumstances  are  women  and  girls  counted  as  members  or  given  a  voice  in  the 
control  of  the  affairs  of  the  Association. 

3.  The  fundamental  things  seem  to  be: 

That  the  Association  must  not  be  diverted  from  its  work  for  men  and  boys. 

That  the  use  of  the  privileges  by  women  and  girls  must  not  interfere  with  their  regular  use  by  men 
and  boys. 

That  at  times  efforts  to  serve  the  men  and  boys  really  require  that  something  be  done  for  the  women 
and  girls. 

These  conditions  rarely  arise  in  the  typical  city  Association,  but  are  confined  largely  to  community, 
industrial,  and  rural  fields. 

III.  Another  Phase  of  the  Question. 

The  Association  has  for  a  long  time  regarded  all  the  men  and  boys  of  its  community  as  its  field,  including 
those  of  various  races  and  social  conditions.  The  question  is  now  seriously  raised  whether  we  are  not  keeping 
a  large  number  of  men  and  boj^s  out  of  our  membership  by  basing  the  fees  upon  the  use  of  privileges  rather 
than  upon  the  mere  fact  of  membership  in  the  Association.  Every  city  contains  large  numbers  of  men  and 
boys  who  could  be  enlisted  in  the  enterprise  of  extending  Christ’s  kingdom,  the  central  objective  of  Associa¬ 
tion  work,  who  do  not  care  and  cannot  afford  to  use  and  pay  for  our  building  privileges.  A  number  of  Asso¬ 
ciation  leaders  think  there  should  be  a  form  of  membership  which  would  include  all  men  and  boys  who  could 
be  enlisted  in  the  enterprise  of  extending  Christ’s  kingdom,  irrespective  of  the  use  of  building  privileges.  {Amer¬ 
ican  Youth,  June,  1915,  110-113,  and  Nov.,  1916,  1.) 


V.  THE  FOUR-FOLD  WORK. 

References:  “History  of  the  Y.  M.  C.  A.”  Morse.  75-79,  120-121,  140. 
“Life  of  Robert  R.  McBurney.”  Doggett.  140-2. 

“Central  Objective  Report.”  8  and  10. 

“Association  Educational  Work.”  George  B.  Hodge.  10-25. 


I.  The  Principles  Stated. 


1.  The  Association  should  do  a  four-fold  work — Educational,  Physical,  Social,  and  Religious — to  build 
symmetrical  Christian  character  in  men  and  boys  and  give  opportunity  for  its  expression. 


2.  Each  of  these  phases  of  Association  work  has  a  definite  part  to  i)lay  in  building  Christian  manhood, 
and  no  phase  of  the  complete  program  of  the  Association  should  be  allowed  to  suffer  or  remain  un¬ 
developed. 

3.  The  doing  of  this  four-fold  work  is  the  fundamental  purpose  of  the  Association,  and  Association 
leaders  should-  not  allow  themselves  to  be  diverted  from  this  four-fold  work  by  other  attractive  and 
necessary  pieces  of  service,  which  are  not  part  of  the  Association  program. 

4.  The  work  of  each  department  must  be  of  religious  value  and  contribute  to  the  central  objective  of 
the  Association.  “It  is  a  recognized  fact  that  education  as  such  or  physical  training  as  such  does  not 
lead  to  a  personal  acceptance  of  the  Christian  ideal.”  Association  leaders  must  find  Avays  of  securing 
religious  results  in  every  department. 


5.  Each  department  head  must  be  a  director  of  religious  work  in  his  department  whether  the  Associa¬ 
tion  employs  a  religious  work  secretary  or  not. 


6. 


The  social  appeal  is  the  basis  of  many  activities  in  each  department, 
wholesome  social  resort. 


The  Association  is  a  place  of 


14 


7.  Some  Secretaries  say  that  every  department  should  do  a  four-fold  work:  For  instance,  that  the  edu¬ 
cational  department  should  have  social,  relif>;ious,  and  recreative  activities;  and  that  the  physical 
department  should  have  social,  religious,  and  educational  activities. 


8.  Many  leaders  think  the  religious  work  should  not  be  a  dejxirtment,  but  a  feature  of  each  department. 
They  do  away  with  a  man  calk'd  tin'  “lieligious  Work  Secretary”  and  assign  chief  res])onsibility  for 
the  ])romotion  of  n'ligious  work  to  an  Asso(*iat('  (leiu'ral  Secretary.  On  any  basis,  then'  must  be 
one  se(*retaiy,  at  least  i)art  of  whose  duties  it  is  to  see  that  department  heads  are  gc'tting  religious 
work  done  in  their  departments,  and  to  cany  on  miscellaneous  religious  activities. 


9.  Some  Association  leaders  are  beginning  to  think  of  the  "five-fold”  work,  raising  the  employment 
work  to  a  full  department,  sometimes  called  "Vocational  Department.”  H.  W.  Stone  of  Portland  has 
demonstrated  that  the  employment  department  has  all  the  characteristics  of  a  full  department  of 
the  Association,  namely:  it  secures  members;  furnishes  opportunity  for  religious  work;  produces 
income,  and  subscriptions;  advertises  the  Association;  heads  up  in  a  committee  and  employed  staff; 
and  in  other  ways  has  all  the  characteristics  fundamental  to  any  department. 


II.  Some  Fundamental  Principles  of  the  Present  Four  Phases  of  Work. 

1.  Educational.  (The  following  principles  will  guide  an  educational  committee  in  the  development  of 

its  program  and  policy.) 

a.  Association  Educational  Work  meets  the  needs  of  men  and  boys  whose  normal  fundamental 
education  has  been  interrupted  or  unsatisfactory.  It  provides  industrial,  commercial,  and  pro¬ 
fessional  courses  having  special  vocational  value. 

b.  In  relation  to  other  good  educational  facilities  its  efforts,  as  a  by-product,  supplement  and 
strengthen  them. 

c.  It  acquaints  men  and  boys  with  their  owm  capacities  and  helps  them  wisely  to  develop  these. 

d.  It  pioneers  work  to  meet  new  educational  needs  and  is  something  of  an  educational  experiment 
station. 

e.  It  is  based  upon  a  careful  study  of  local  needs. 

f.  It  enables  men  and  boys  to  use  wisely  their  leisure  hours. 

g.  It  inspires  men  and  boys  to  a  larger  usefulness  and  greater  efficiency. 

h.  Its  effective  administration  provides  for  both  day  and  evening  classes,  includes  the  best  Christian 
t(?achers  and  leaders,  and  seeks  to  keep  closely  related  to  present  day  methods  of  commerce  and 
industry. 

i.  It  affords  a  field  for  volunteer  service,  though  the  great  bulk*of  teaching  is  done  by  regularly 
employed  teachers — ^teachers,  however,  who  are  inspired  with  high  ideals  of  Christian  service. 

j.  It  will  give  men  and  boys  what  they  most  need  next.  Its  curriculum  will  have  cultural  as  well  as 
purely  utilitarian  features. 

k.  Paid  experts  for  supervision  are  recognized  as  essential. 

l.  Finally,  its  wise  conduct  will  so  permeate  all  features  and  processes  with  the  spirit  of  Christ  that 
results  will  be  seen  in  the  development  of  Christian  manhood  and  the  relating  of  men  and  boys 
to  Christ  and  the  Church. 

2.  Religious  Work  Fundamentals. 

In  addition  to  the  principles  developed  under  the  "Paris  Basis”  and  "Central  Objective,”  the  Evan¬ 
gelical  Test  and  relation  to  the  Church,  the  following  principles  are  now  generally  regarded  as  funda¬ 
mental  in  Association  religious  work: 

a.  "Our  first  obligation  is  to  our  members.”  Asilomar  "Central  Objective  Report,”  p.  6.  One  of 
the  effects  of  the  great  extension  movement  in  religious  work  a  dozen  years  ago  was  the  cen¬ 
tering  of  attention  upon  groups  outside  the  building,  frequently  to  the  neglect  of  groups  within 
the  building  itself. 

For  the  past  five  years  there  has  been  a  growing  sentiment,  now  general,  that  our  first  obliga¬ 
tion  is  to  the  men  within  our  buildings  and  within  our  membership.  The  common  phrase  "evan¬ 
gelize  the  membership”  expresses  the  modern  thought.  In  the  evangelization  of  our  own 
membership  we  lay  a  foundation  for  service  to  the  whole  city. 

b.  The  danger  of  emphasizing  this  principle  lies  in  the  fact  that  Associations  may  again  swing  to 
an  extreme  and  consider  that  the  only  religious  obligation  of  the  Association  is  to  its  members. 
The  Association  should  continually  keep  before  itself  the  fact  that  all  the  men  and  boys  of  the 
city  are  its  field — and  a  complete  policy  provides  for  the  meeting  of  the  needs  of  groups  and 
races  in  all  parts  of  the  city. 

c.  Croat  emphasis  is  being  laid  upon  the  "religious  interview  plan”  as  the  best  means  of  carrying 

15 


out  the  recognized  principle  that  “no  religious  work  policy  is  adequate  which  does  not  provide 
for  an  organized  campaign  of  personal  evangelism.”  “Principles  and  Methods  of  Religious  Work,” 
p.  104.  Some  form  of  the  interview  system  based  on  personal  religious  relations  to  members  is 
the  only  way  of  fulfilling  our  complete  obligation  to  them. 

d.  The  Association  should  think  of  its  religious  work  as  a  problem  in  religious  education,  and  should 
base  its  plans  and  activities  on  the  best  findings  of  the  modern  religious  education  movement. 

e.  The  Bible  is  the  standard  text  book  of  religious  education  and  will  ever  continue  to  hold  this 
position.  The  place  of  Bible  study  in  the  Association  program  has  always  been  recognized  as 
fundamental.  Its  teachings  are  the  only  basis  of  a  Christian  social  order,  and  a  knowledge  of 
them  must  precede  constructive  social  work.  The  Bible  must  be  studied  also  for  personal,  spirit¬ 
ual,  and  moral  growth. 

f.  The  Association  has  a  special  obligation  to  young  men  in  non-Christian  lands.  This  will  be 
developed  in  a  separate  section. 

g.  The  responsibility  for  the  promotion  of  the  religious  education  program  in  the  Association  must 
be  definitely  located  as  all  or  part  of  the  responsibility  of  a  definite  employed  officer,  who  may 
or  may  not  bear  the  title  of  Religious  Work  Secretary. 

h.  The  Association  must  always  be  a  sort  of  experiment  station  for  the  discovery  and  testing  of 
new  methods  of  religious  work  for  men  and  boys. 

3.  Physical  Work  Fundamentals. 

a.  Health  is  fundamental  to  the  full  and  symmetrical  development  of  Christian  manhood  and  boy¬ 
hood,  and  exercise  is  fundamental  to  health. 

b.  Physical  education  and  training  have  a  definite  contribution  to  make  toward  Christian  character, 
in  the  developing  of  poise,  self-confidence,  and  self-control. 

c.  Physical  activities  furnish  healthy  enjoyment  and  recreation  for  idle  hours,  and  so  safeguard 
the  characters  of  young  men  during  periods  of  leisure. 

d.  Physical  training  is  a  potent  factor  in  preventing  the  breaking  down  of  the  moral  and  religious 
standards  of  men,  brought  about  by  lowered  physical  efficiency. 

e.  Carefully  prescribed  and  supervised  exercise  is  an  important  factor  in  helping  a  growing  boy  to 
attain  full  and  proper  physical  development. 

f.  The  Central  Objective  of  the  Association,  the  winning  of  men  and  boys  to  the  Christian  life  and 
service,  should  find  its  place  in  the  program  of  the  Physical  Department. 

g.  The  Association  recognizes  the  character  values  to  be  derived  from  supervised  play,  such  as 
control  of  temper,  team  play,  and  working  together  for  a  common  end. 

h.  The  Physical  Director  should  be  considered  a  religious  leader  and  held  responsible  for  religious 
work  in  his  department. 

i.  The  idea  of  the  Association  is  physical  education  and  recreation  for  a  large  number  of  its  members, 
rather  than  of  the  development  of  a  few  experts  and  record-breakers. 

j.  All  the  physical  activities  of  the  Association  should,  with  few  exceptions,  be  conducted  under 
trained  and  expert  supervision.  The  Association  carmot  stand  for  an  unsupervised  gymnasium 
or  playground. 

k.  The  Association  believes  in  a  program  of  education  that  will  result  in  the  reduction  or  curtailment 
of  preventable  disease. 

4.  Social  Work  Fundamentals. 

a.  Man  is  a  gregarious  animal  and  finds  much  of  the  pleasure  of  life  in  social  groups.  The  Associa¬ 
tion  believes  in  providing  a  proper  social  resort  for  young  men  and  boys,  both  for  constructive 
sociability  and  to  serve  as  a  counter  attraction  to  the  evils  of  the  city,  such  as  the  saloon.  It 
can  thus  protect  young  men  from  many  of  the  evils  of  modern  life.  The  modern  Association 
building  is  the  expression  of  the  idea  of  the  Association  as  a  social  resort  for  young  men.  Here 
they  may  make  and  meet  clean  friends.  It  is  also  the  home  of  the  man  away  from  home. 

b.  The  building  as  a  social  resort  should  be  neat  in  appointments  and  attractive  in  atmosphere.  It 
should  not  be  elegant  beyond  the  normal  desires  of  the  group  it  is  to  serve. 

c.  All  features  and  activities  of  the  Association  can  be  given  a  social  value.  Wholesome  sociability 
should  characterize  all  Association  gatherings. 

d.  The  value  of  an  Association  social  feature  may  be  judged  by  the  following  standards  suggested 
by  W.  M.  Wood: 

It  should  attract,  assimilate,  socialize,  recreate,  and  produce  culture. 

The  word  “culture”  should  not  be  taken  in  too  heavy  a  sense.  It  is  doubtless  a  protest 
against  “rough-house  stunts.” 

e.  The  wise  Association  will  recognize  the  fact  of  “consciousness  of  kind”  and  will  promote  its  socia¬ 
bility  along  lines  of  natural  grouping,  bringing  together  men  who  are  socially  congenial.  Social 

IG 


congeniality  can  be  overlooked  in  very  large  groupings;  but  the  most  effective  social  work  is 
l)robably  done  with  small  groups  of  men  who  have  some  common  interest  and  fundamental  con¬ 
geniality.  This  does  not  mean  the  cultivation  of  snobbishness,  but  a  frank  recognition  of  what 
Professor  Giddings  has  called  the  fundamental  social  fact,  “the  consciousness  of  kind.” 

f.  The  same  social  activity  will  not  appeal  to  all  men,  and  a  variety  of  features  and  activities  will 
be  needed  to  serve  the  different  tastes  within  our  membershij). 

g.  The  growth  of  gangs  or  cliques  within  the  Association  is  not  to  be  fought  against  and  discourag('d, 
but  recognized  as  normal,  and  fostered  under  proper  supervision. 


VI.  VOLUNTEER  CONTROL  AND  LEADERSHIP. 

References:  “Principles  and  Organization.”  Murray.  73  to  79. 

“History  of  the  Y.  M.  C.  A.”  Morse.  3-7,  14,  15,  6G-70,  80,  81. 

“Y.  M.  C.  A.  Hand-book.”  90-104,  114,  135. 

“Lay  Leadership.”  Employed  Officers’  Conference  Report,  1912. 

I.  The  Principle  Stated. 

The  Association  activities  should  be  determined  upon,  managed,  and  carried  on  by  volunteer  laymen, 
through  a  system  of  officers,  directors,  and  committeemen,  assisting  the  employed  officers  in  the  leadership 
of  the  organization  and  its  work. 

II.  The  Place  of  Volunteer  Workers. 

1.  They  hold  all  legal  and  administrative  power.  This  control  they  should  never  surrender  to  employed 
officers. 

2.  They  are  guarantors  of  and  sponsors  for  the  Association.  They  give  it  dignity  and  standing,  and 
inspire  confidence  in  it. 

3.  They  are  responsible  to  the  community  for  the  safeguarding  of  trust  funds  and  buildings,  and  for 
the  maximum  use  of  Association  facilities. 

4.  They  are  the  final  judges  of  what  the  Association  should  do  for  its  members  and  for  the  community, 
the  service  it  should  undertake,  and  its  attitude  on  disputed  questions  and  to  other  movements. 

5.  “The  successful  Association  is  a  laymen’s  organization.” 

C.  “The  real  power  of  the  Association  has  rested  in  the  fact  that  the  work  was  done  by  laymen — as  part 
of  the  daily  life  and  service  of  Christian  men  engaged  in  various  secular  pursuits.  If  the  Associa¬ 
tions  are  to  maintain  their  progress  and  their  power,  they  must  be  continued  under  lay  control,  as 
distinguished  from  secretarial  control.” — Cephas  Brainerd,  for  twenty-five  years  Chairman  of  the 
International  Committee. 

III.  The  Relation  of  Secretarial  to  Volunteer  Leadership. 

1.  The  layman’s  place  of  leadership  is  threatened  by  the  growing  amount  of  work  delegated  to,  or  as¬ 
sumed  by,  employed  officers.  The  secretary  should  be  a  discoverer  and  trainer  of  volunteer  lay 
workers,  directing  their  activities,  rather  than  caring  for  a  large  amount  of  detail  himself.  He  should 
give  the  largest  possible  place  to  volunteer  workers.  This  usurping  of  the  place  of  the  lay  worker 
McBurney  labelled  secretarialism,  and  warned  the  Association  of  its  dangers  as  early  as  1882. 

2.  The  proper  function  of  the  secretary  is  that  of  expert  adviser.  This  does  not  mean  that  he  will  not 
have  plenty  of  good  hard  work  to  do.  It  does  mean  that  he  will  not  do  all  the  work. 

3.  Ability  to  find  and  use  committeemen  is  a  real  measure  of  a  secretary’s  success. 

4.  The  secretary’s  leadership  should  not  be  based  on  authority.  Mr.  R.  C.  Morse  said  in  1908,  “He 
must  lead  by  moral,  intellectual  and  spiritual  suasion,  not  by  being  in  authority  himself,  but  by 
commanding  the  intelligence  and  the  conscience  of  those  who  are  in  authority.”  He  should  not  be 
a  member  of  boards  or  committees  and  should  not  have  a  vote.  He  must  sit  with  them  as  counsellor 
and  one  of  the  leaders,  however. 


17 


5.  The  opportunity  of  finding  and  developing  lay  leaders  is  one  of  the  most  fascinating  features  of  the 
secretaryship,  and  the  line  of  largest  service  to  the  kingdom  of  God.  It  is  one  of  a  secretary’s  most 
important  duties. 

IV.  Associate  Members  as  Committeemen. 


Some  Associations  do  not  allow  associate  members  to  serve  on  committees.  To  many  this  seems  an. 
unwise  policy.  According  to  our  constitution,  the  associate  member  cannot  have  a  voice  in  determining 
fundamental  Association  policies;  but  there  are  scores  of  things  he  can  do  for  the  Association,  to  the  benefit 
of  both  the  Association  and  his  own  spiritual  development.  Many  men  have  found  their  way  into  the  Chris¬ 
tian  life  through  Christian  service,  and  we  should  not  shut  this  door  into  the  Kingdom. 

V.  Service  Membership. 

A  large  number  of  men  should  be  asked  to  join  the  Association  for  the  purpose  of  serving  on  specific  com¬ 
mittees.  Some  men  are  asked  to  become  members  because  we  need  money.  We  solicit  others  to  get  them  to 
use  privileges.  One  of  the  great  undeveloped  membership  fields  of  the  Association  is  that  of  getting  men 
to  join  the  Association  to  render  service.  The  getting  of  these  men  to  continue  their  membership  will  be  a 
simple  matter.  They  will  become  the  backbone  of  the  Association.  Some  of  our  finest  pieces  of  service  to 
the  community  have  remained  unperformed  because  we  have  failed  to  push  this  phase  of  Association  activity 
— the  enlisting,  training,  and  using  of  lay  workers.  One  of  the  largest  developments  ahead  of  us  lies  along 
this  line. 


VI.  Sources  of  Volunteers. 

1.  Boys.  In  school,  in  stores  and  offices,  in  industries. 

2.  Students.  Undergraduates.  Recent  graduates. 

3.  Business  men. 

4.  Wage  earners.  Clerical,  industrial,  agricultural. 

5.  Professional  men.  Ministers,  teachers,  lawyers,  engineers,  doctors,  social  workers. 
C.  Civic  officials  and  emploj^ers. 

VII.  Spheres  of  Volunteer  Service. 

1.  Committees,  both  executive  and  advisory. 

2.  Commissions,  to  make  surveys  and  studies. 

3.  Delegated  personal  work. 

4.  Leadership  for  special  lines  of  service. 


VII.  TRAINED  EMPLOYED  LEADERSHIP. 

References:  “A  Vocation  With  a  Future.”  Soares. 

“The  Secretaryship  as  a  Life  Work.”  Springfield  College. 

“History  of  the  Y.  M.  C.  A.”  R.  C.  Morse. 

I.  The  Principle  Stated. 

Expert  employed  executive  officers  are  indispensable  to  the  proper  promotion  and  development  of  the 
modern  Young  Men’s  Christian  Association.  These  employed  officers  should  be  technically  trained  in  Asso- 

18 


ciation  History,  Principles,  and  Methods,  in  addition  to  having  a  well-rounded  general  education,  and  if  pos¬ 
sible  some  business  experience.  .The  Association  secretary  should  know  the  history  and  philosophy  of  the 
Association  Movement  and  of  his  own  function. 

II.  The  Growing  Demand  for  Men. 

The  first  emi)loyed  officer  was  engaged  by  the  London  Association  in  1845 — six  months  afb'r  its  organiza¬ 
tion.  The  first  employed  officer  in  America  was  engaged  in  1853  by  the  Poston  Y.  M.  C.  — fifteen  months 
after  its  organization.  In  1880  the  number  of  employed  officers  was  178.  In  1900  the  thousand  mark  had 
been  passed.  In  1910  there  were  2,927.  In  1916  the  North  American  Associations  had  4,600  secretaries  in 
their  employ.  During  the  next  few  years  not  less  than  two  secretaries  every  three  days  will  be  needed  to 
fill  major  secretarial  positions  in  the  North  American  Associations.  Including  assistants,  over  700  new  men 
are  needed  each  year. 

Parallel  with  the  growth  in  the  number  of  secretaries  has  been  the  growth  in  the  demands  made  upon 
the  secretary  and  an  increasingly  higher  ty]re  of  man  is  being  demanded  for  this  work.  The  necessity  for 
securing  properly  qualified  employed  officers  is  the  most  imi)ortant  problem  before  the  Association.  The 
famous  Stone  Commission  report  said,  “Many  leaders  continue  to  feel  that  the  employed  officer  is  still  the 
most  pressing  problem  of  the  present  time.” 

Not  only  has  the  number  of  employed  officers  grown — the  sub-divisions  of  the  secretaryship,  or  kinds  of 
specialists  within  the  secretaryship,  have  also  multiplied  until  today,  for  instance,  the  Boys’  Department  and 
Industrial  Department  each  have  five  or  six  distinctive  kinds  of  specialists.  The  term  “secretary”  is  used  in 
these  outlines  as  including  all  employed  officers  of  an  Association. 

III.  Functions  of  the  Employed  Officer. 

The  work  of  promoting  a  modern  Association  requires  that  the  executive  officer  function  in  most  or  all 
of  the  following  capacities: 

1.  He  is  the  organizer  and  director  of  a  force  of  volunteer  workers,  engaged  in  the  enterprise  of  extending 
the  Kingdom  of  Christ  among  young  men.  As  such,  he  is  primarily  a  religious  leader. 

2.  He  is  manager  of  a  corporation  handling  in  many  instances  tens  of  thousands  of  dollars. 

3.  He  is  the  head  of  a  popular  college — the  educational  department. 

4.  He  is  charged  with  the  care  of  a  large  building.  In  many  instances  he  has  had  both  to  juomote  th(‘ 
financing  of  this  building  and  to  suggest  its  main  architectural  features. 

5.  He  is  a  brother-confessor  and  counsellor — the  pastor  of  a  parish  of  young  men. 

6.  He  is  a  social  engineer,  using  Christianity  as  a  social  force,  and  the  Association  as  an  agency  in  re¬ 
constructing  society. 

7.  He  is  a  social  host  of  a  great  club. 

8.  He  is  the  manager  of  a  hotel. 

9.  He  is  the  promoter  of  a  system  of  physical  education,  affecting  the  lives  of  thousands  of  men  and  boys. 

10.  He  is  the  exponent  and  representative  of  a  world-wide  brotherhood,  having  its  own  history,  prin¬ 
ciples,  and  technique. 

IV.  The  Training  for  these  Functions. 

A  consideration  of  the  above  functions  suggests  the  lines  of  preparation  for  the  secretary  who  would  fully 
meet  the  requirements  of  his  position. 

1.  A  liberal  education  for  the  sake  of  general  training  and  culture — if  possible,  a  Bachelor  of  Arts  course 
in  a  first  class  college  or  university. 

2.  A  knowledge  of  Association  History,  Principles,  and  Methods. 

3.  A  knowledge  of  fundamentals  of  religion,  religious  education,  and  the  great  text-book  of  religious 
education— the  Bible.  He  must  know  the  religious  thought,  point  of  view,  and  experience  of  his  age. 

4.  He  should  have  a  knowledge  of  general  education,  pedagogy,  and  psychology. 

19  • 


5.  As  an  executive  he  must  understand  promotion,  organization,  and  the  fundamentals  of  leadership. 

6.  As  a  business  manager  he  must  be  acquainted  with  business  administration,  finance,  and  publicity. 

7.  As  a  social  engineer  he  needs  to  know  the  modern  city  and  its  problems,  and  have  some  knowledge  of 
sociology,  economics,  history,  and  modern  methods  of  welfar.e  work. 


V.  Training  Agencies. 

The  Association  has  developed  three  agencies  for  the  training  of  men  in  its  own  work. 

1.  The  Association  colleges  at  Springfield,  Mass.,  and  Chicago,  Ill.,  with  four  year  and  three  year  courses 
respectively,  and  two  year  courses  for  men  with  A.  B.  degrees. 

2.  Summer  Schools  at  Silver  Bay,  N.  Y. ;  Lake  Geneva,  Wis. ;  Blue  Ridge,  N.  C.;  Estes  Park,  Colo.; 
Chesapeake  Summer  School;  Canadian  Summer  School,  at  Lake  Couchiching;  Asilomar,  Cal.;  Sea- 
beck,  Wash.;  Hollister,  Mo. 

3.  Training  Centers.  Thirty  of  the  leading  city  Associations  of  North  America  have  organized  as  the 
Federation  of  Training  Centers  for  putting  on  thorough  courses  of  study  for  the  training  of  men 
for  the  secretaryship.  Each  of  these  thirty  Associations  follows  a  standard  outline  of  study.  Col¬ 
lege  men  recruited  on  the  Fellowship  Plan  are  sent  to  these  training  centers  for  two  years  of  class 
instruction,  coaching,  and  experience  with  the  recommendation  that  a  third  year  be  spent  in  grad¬ 
uate  study,  preferably  in  an  Association  college. 

VI.  Ethics  of  Changing  Positions. 

1.  It  is  customary  first  to  sound  a  man  to  see  if  he  would  consider  a  change  of  fields,  and  after  finding 
that  he  is  willing  to  consider  such  a  change,  he  is  extended  a  call,  if  on  further  consideration  he  is 
desired  for  the  place  to  be  filled. 

2.  It  is  commonly  recognized  as  proper  to  consult  frankly  with  a  General  Secretary  before  approaching 
a  man  on  his  staff  with  reference  to  changing  fields.  There  are  times  when  supervisory  secretaries 
should  also  be  consulted. 

3.  On  the  other  hand,  justice  to  the  man  under  consideration  will  as  a  rule  lead  general  and  supervisory 
secretaries  to  feel  that  the  decision  should  be  left  not  to  either  or  both  of  them,  but  to  the  man  him¬ 
self. 

4.  Industry  is  increasingly  turning  toward  the  plan  of  training  its  own  men  for  executive  positions — 
developing  them  through  the  understudy  relationship,  and  following  the  plan  of  promotions  from 
within.  The  adoption  of  this  policy  by  local  Associations  would  make  unnecessary  much  of  the 
indiscriminate  taking  of  secretaries  from  other  Association  fields. 

5.  To  attend  one  of  the  summer  schools  at  the  expense  of  the  local  Association  a  secretary  is  serving, 
and  while  there  either  to  seek  another  position  or  to  throw  oneself  open  to  approaches  from  other 
fields  is  considered  a  breach  of  the  trust  reposed  in  a  secretary  by  the  Association  employing  him. 

VII.  Recruiting  for  the  Secretaryship. 

The  important  problem  of  supplying  a  sufficient  number  of  properly  selected  recruits  for  the  secretaryship 
is  receiving  nation-wide  attention.  State  committees  are  promoting  aggressive  recruiting  campaigns.  The 
Association  colleges  are  searching  for  good  men.  The  Fellowship  Plan  of  recruiting  college  men  is  now  in 
its  seventh  year.  The  Secretarial  Bureau  of  the  International  Committee  is  devoting  much  time  to  the  work 
of  recruiting.  Local  secretaries  are  realizing  their  obligation  and  privilege  in  this  regard.  Uniformity  of 
standards  and  processes  has  not  yet  been  attained,  but  distinct  progress  is  being  made  in  that  direction. 

VIII.  Further  Literature  on  the  Employed  Officer. 

L.  W.  Messer  is  preparing  a  book  on  “The  Secretary.”  C.  K.  Ober  is  preparing  one  on  “The  Secretary¬ 
ship.”  A  commission  will  report  at  the  Employed  Officers’  Conference,  at  Springfield,  Mass.,  June,  1917, 
giving  recent  material  and  opinions.  The  Secretarial  Bureau  of  the  International  Committee  is  preparing  a 
series  of  booklets  to  be  used  in  recruiting. 


20 


VIII.  THE  OCCUPATION  OF  METROPOLITAN  FIELDS. 


References:  “Life  of  McBurney.”  Dogfijett.  145,  section  9. 

“Principles  and  Organization.”  Murray.  61. 

First  ('onference  of  Metropolitan  Cleneral  Secretaries.  14. 

Second  C'onference  of  Metropolitan  General  S('cretari('s.  12. 

“Y.  M.  C.  A.  Hand-book.”  76-77. 

“History  of  the  Y.M.  C.  A.”  Morse.  14.3-6. 

I.  Principles  Stated. 

1.  There  should  be  only  one  city  Young  Men’s  Christian  Association  in  each  city.  The  various  fields 
within  the  city  are  occupied  by  branch  Associations  or  departments,  all  operated  under  the  authority 
and  direction  of  a  common  Board  of  Directors  except  as  noted  in  the  next  section.  The  detailed 
administration  of  each  branch  is  in  the  hands  of  a  Committee  of  Management  appointed  or  approved 
by  the  Metropolitan  Board  of  Directors.  Each  branch  has  its  own  secretarial  staff.  The  secretaries 
of  the  Metropolitan  staff  have  equal  relations  to  all  branches. 

2.  Special  Associations  are  organized  to  meet  the  need  of  special  groups — either  as  branches  of  the  City 
Association  or  as  group  Associations,  as  authorized  by  International  Convention  action:  viz..  Col¬ 
lege,  Railroad,  Soldier,  Sailor,  Colored  men,  etc.,  and  certain  foreign  groups,  Chinese,  Japanese,  etc. 

3.  Some  cities,  e.  g.,  Chicago,  prefer  the  term  “department”  to  “branch.” 

4.  This  scheme  of  organization  is  commonly  called  the  “Metropolitan  Plan.” 

5.  One  of  the  chief  objects  of  this  form  of  organization  is  to  prevent  the  development  of  competitive 
Associations  within  one  city,  and  so  to  avoid  overlapping  in  the  solicitation  of  funds.  Among  its 
beneficial  results  are: 

a.  Comprehensive  and  unified  city-wide  policies. 

b.  Economy  in  business  administration. 

c.  Uniformity  of  dues,  and  interchange  of  membership  privileges. 

(1.  Adequate  supervision. 

e.  Greater  confidence  and  support  of  citizens. 

f.  Stability. 

The  International  Convention  recognizes  only  one  city  Young  Men’s  Christian  Association  in  any 
city.  (Kansas  City  Resolution,  1891,  Morse’s  History.  280.) 

II.  Reason  for  Special  Branches. 

A  fundamental  principle  in  life  is  that  men  associate  on  the  basis  of  social  congeniality. 

Special  branches  for  Railroad,  College,  Colored,  Army,  and  other  groups  are  built  partly  in  recognition 
of  this  fact  of  life  and  partly  because  each  special  group  has  particular  needs  that  are  l)est  met  in  separate 
buildings.  Proximity  to  the  men  is  also  at  times  a  determining  factor. 

Care  must  be  exercised  in  applying  this  principle.  Class  or  race  feeling  must  not  be  encouraged,  nor 
generated;  but  a  tacit  recognition  of  these  facts  brings  good  results. 


IX.  EACH  ASSOCIATION  AN  INDEPENDENT  LOCAL  UNIT. 

References:  Buffalo  Convention  Report,  78-81. 

Boston  Convention  Report,  80-81. 

“Principles  and  Organization.”  Murray.  53. 

“Association  Relationships.”  Messer.  24. 

“Association  Hand-book.”  391. 

“History  of  the  Y.  M.  C.  A.”  Morse.  281-284. 

21 


I.  Principles  Stated. 


“The  local  Association  is  the  original  and  independent  unit  in  the  Brotherhood  of  Young  Men's  Chris¬ 
tian  Associations.”  (Grand  Rapids  Resolution,  1899.)  Its  control  of  its  own  legal  and  administrative  affairs 
is  complete. 

“The  individual  Association  has  absolute  local  jurisdiction.”  Asso.  Hand-book.  391. 

“The  historic  and  well-settled  autonomy  and  independence  of  the  local  Association  should  and  will  con¬ 
tinue  unquestioned.”  (Buffalo  Resolution,  1904.) 

“The  relation  of  the  su])ervisory  agencies  (State  and  International  Committees)  to  the  local  Association 
is  as  a  rule  advisory.”  The  local  Association  has  the  status  of  an  independent  unit  and  as  such  has  the  right 
to  apply  for  aid  to  either  agency  of  supervision.  (Buffalo  Resolution,  1904.) 

While  independent,  the  local  Associations  are  closely  bound  together  in  these  state  and  international 
relationships.  The  Association  as  a  whole  is  a  real  Brotherhood. 


X.  SUPERVISORY  AGENCIES. 

References:  “Association  Hand-book.”  391^40. 

“Principles  and  Organization.”  Murray.  53-59. 

Buffalo  Convention  Report,  81-82. 

“History  of  the  Y.  M.  C.  A.”  Morse.  25-34,  57-58,  82-93,  243-60. 

Boston  Convention  Report,  80-81. 

Messer’s  Silver  Bay  paper,  1912,  6-12. 

I.  Principles  Stated. 

The  local  Associations  are  united  through  State  and  International  Conventions.  These  Conventions 
elect  Executive  Committees  to  carry  out  a  policy  of  counsel,  cooperation,  supervision,  promotion,  and  ex¬ 
tension.  “The  relation  of  the  supervisory  agencies  to  the  local  Association  is  as  a  rule  advisory.”  (Grand 
Rapids  Resolution,  1899.) 

“From  the  beginning  no  authority  over  the  local  Association  was  granted  to  the  federated  agencies.  Their 
relation  to  the  Association  was  defined  as  advisory  or  counseling — counsel  based  upon  expert  knowledge  and 
oversight  of  the  whole  field  and  of  the  local  work  in  its  best  estate.  It  was  an  advisory  supervision  without 
authority.”  (Morse’s  History,  249.) 

II.  History  and  Procedure. 

1.  The  Associations  instituted  this  international  relation  to  each  other  at  the  Buffalo  Convention  of 
1854 — three  years  after  the  organization  of  the  first  Association  in  Boston.  State  Conventions  date 
from  1866,  recommended  by  the  International  Convention  of  that  year. 

2.  The  form  of  organization  and  procedure  of  State  and  International  Conventions  is  explained  in  Morse’s 

History,  pp.  243-248. 

• 

3.  State  Conventions  are  generally  hekl  yearly.  The  State  Committees  are  spoken  of  as  exercising 
close  supervision  over  local  work. 

The  International  Conventions  are  held  triennially.  The  International  Committee  is  spoken  of  as 
exercising  general  supervision  over  local  work. 

4.  These  two  groups  of  conventions  are  the  only  legislative  bodies  of  the  Associations,  and  their  acts  are 
limited  to  the  field  of  matters  relating  to  State  and  International  Conventions  and  Committees. 

5.  State  and  International  Conventions  elect  Executive  Committees  which  make  their  work  effective  in 
their  territories  through  the  employment  of  State  and  International  Secretaries  who  become  clearing¬ 
houses  of  the  best  experience  of  the  Association  and  make  it  available  for  all.  When  a  specialist  in 
a  limited  field  of  work  is  needed,  he  is  usually  supplied  by  the  International  Committee  and  his  ser¬ 
vices  made  available  for  the  whole  country.  The  stronger  State  Committees  are  gradually  developing 
staffs  of  s]:)ecializing  secretaries  also,  as  student,  railroad,  bo3’^s’,  county,  and  educational. 

6.  For  a  discussion  of  the  “relationshijjs  controversy”  see  Morse’s  History,  pp.  256-259,  and  the  report 
of  the  business  session  of  the  Buffalo  Convention  Report.  Also  “The  Polity  of  the  North  American 
Young  Men’s  Christian  Association,”  R..  C.  Morse,  and  “Association  Relationships,”  L.  W.  Messer. 

22 


XI.  THE  ASSOCIATION  BUILDING,  AND  NON-EQUIPMENT  WORK. 


References:  “Association  Hand-book.”  158-161. 

“History  of  Y.  M.  C.  A.”  IMorse.  76-77.  136-143. 

“Personal  Memoirs.”  L.  C.  Warner.  107. 

“Life  of  McBurney.”  Doggett.  74-78,  85. 

“The  Association  Building.”  Jallade. 

I.  Principles  Stated. 

1.  For  its  proper  development  the  City  Association  demands  a  modern  building  specially  planned  and 
built  for  its  use  and  owned  by  the  Association. 

2.  In  cities  where  the  work  is  new  the  building  should  as  a  rule  be  built  simultaneously  with  the  be¬ 
ginning  of  the  Association.  “Now  it  is  the  recognized  principle  that  wherever  there  is  a  field  for  an 
Association,  its  success  is  more  wisely  promoted  by  securing  at  the  outset  a  suitable  building.”  (War¬ 
ner,  “Memoirs.”  107.) 

II.  Three  Methods  of  Association  Evolution. 

1.  Many  Associations  have  evolved  through  rented  quarters  in  a  rented  building  into  a  modern  building 
owned  by  the  Association. 

2.  A  number  of  Associations  have  begun  their  histories  with  modern  Association  buildings,  secured  by 
the  short-term  or  whirlwind  campaign  method,  developed  by  C.  S.  Ward  in  1906. 

3.  There  is  a  modern  tendency  in  some  places,  more  especially  rural  fields  and  small  towns  and  in  com¬ 
munity  branches  of  city  Associations,  to  begin  with  non-equipment  work  and  secure  a  building  at  a 
later  time. 

III.  Principles  of  Arrangement. 

1.  A  few  fundamental  principles  of  arrangement  have  been  clearly  established:  the  principle  of  control 
from  a  central  office,  giving  maximum  supervision  with  a  minimum  of  employes.  The  large  lobby 
is  the  central  feature. 

Simplicity  and  dignity  of  exterior — as  contrasted  with  the  type  of  twenty  years  ago  with  its  towers, 
dormer  windows,  etc. 

Revenue-producing  features — sometimes  called  “endowment  features” — arc  incorporated  in  all  mod¬ 
em  buildings.  The  dormitory  is  the  most  common  of  these. 

Buildings  should  be  built  with  the  amount  of  money  provided  and  dedicated  debt  free.  Some  first- 
class  disasters  have  resulted  from  the  failure  to  observe  this  principle. 

Jallade’s  pamphlet  “The  Association  Building”  gives  a  good  discussion  of  some  fundamental  prin¬ 
ciples  of  construction. 

IV.  Non-equipment  Work,  or  Community  Work. 

The  Association  is  adaptal)le  to  rural  conditions,  small  towns  and  districts  of  citic-s,  through  non-equip¬ 
ment  work  under  strong  trained  leadership  and  supervision.  Association  Men,  Aug.,  1912,  is  partly  devoted 
to  the  presentation  of  this  plan.  This  form  of  work  is  discussed  in  “Community  Boys’  Work” — published  by 
Association  Press.  In  fields  where  non-e(|uipment  work  is  carried  on  the  Association  depends  for  its  success 
almost  entirely  upon  the  personality  and  skill  of  the  secretary  and  his  ability  to  see  and  develop  the  local 
resources  of  equipment  and  voluntary  workers. 

In  the  promotion  of  these  Community  Associations,  the  City  Department  of  the  International  Commit¬ 
tee  will  cooperate  in  city  fields  and  the  County  Department  in  the  country  fields.  For  special  groups,  such  as 
colored,  railroad,  and  industrial,  in  city  or  country  fields,  the  appropriate  department  will  cooperate  with  the 
city  or  county  department  in  the  promotion  of  the  Community  Association. 


2. 

3. 

4. 

5. 


XII.  FINANCIAL  SUPPORT. 

References:  “Association  Hand-book.”  Ill,  191,  199-214. 

“Life  of  McBurney.”  Doggett.  143. 

23 


I.  Principles  Stated. 


''riie  Association  is  not  expected  to  be  self-supporting.  The  revenue  from  members’  fees  ami  building 
l^rivileges  is  not  expected  to  be  sufficient  to  maintain  the  Association. 

The  money  needed  beyond  the  income  from  membership  and  other  fees,  dormitory  rent,  and  endowment, 
is  best  secured  by  direct  solicitation.  Undignified  and  cheap  methods  of  raising  money  should  be  avoided. 

The  directors  of  a  successful  Association  must  secure  annually  subscriptions  to  meet  the  cost  of : 

a.  Many  activities  for  which  there  is  no  charge  to  members  or  the  public. 

b.  Adequate  upkeep  of  building,  repairs,  and  alterations. 

The  fundamental  appeal  for  financial  aid  will  be  on  the  basis  of  the  large  contribution  the  Association  is 
making  to  the  young  manhood  and  boyhood  of  the  city,  and  the  necessity  for  keeping  the  membership  fees 
within  the  reach  of  the  average  young  man.  When  this  appeal  is  properly  presented  as  an  opportunity  to 
have  a  part  in  a  great  enterprise,  men  will  give  large  sums. 

The  importance  of  drawing  up  a  budget  in  advance  of  the  year’s  work — of  getting  it  adopted  by  the 
Board  of  Directors  and  of  raising  the  budget  early  in  the  year,  should  be  treated  in  the  course  on  business 
administration  and  management. 


XIII.  WORK  AMONG  SPECIAL  CLASSES  AND  GROUPS. 

A.  MEN  IN  INDUSTRIES. 

Reference;  ‘‘Among  Industrial  Workers.”  Hand-book  of  the  Industrial  Department. 

I.  The  Field  of  Industrial  Workers. 

1.  It  includes  artisans  and  apprentices;  semi-skilled  laborers  and  machine-operators;  unskilled  laborers; 
foremen  and  superintendents  and  works’  managers;  persons  engaged  in  commercial,  professional  or 
managerial  work  in  operating  or  producing  departments.  It  includes  all  men  in  manufacturing  and 
mechanical  work;  men  in  transportation  not  reached  b3'^  the  Railroad  Associations;  and  men  in  the 
extract  occupations,  such  as  forestry,  mining,  fishing,  oil,  and  natural  gas  production.  Such  men  in 
trade  as  draymen,  hackmen,  hatters,  hostlers,  porters,  telegraph  linemen;  and  men  in  personal  service 
such  as  boot-blacks,  elevator  men,  launderers,  stevedores,  and  waiters.  The  field  includes  nearly 
15,000,000  males- — two  thirds  of  the  male  workers  in  our  cities  and  towns. 

2.  The  Association  began  its  work  among  clerks.  IMany  City  Associations  have  never  gotten  beyond 
this  group  and  are  neglecting  66  per  cent  of  their  field.  The  best  Associations  are  now  getting  a 
vision  of  their  duty  to  industrial  workers, 

3.  There  are  three  elements  in  the  industrial  population.  Almost  one  half— 44  per  cent — are  native 
Avhite  men  and  boys;  7  per  cent  are  colored;  49  per  cent  are  foreign-born.  The  Association  should 
reach  all  three  of  these  groups — not  selecting  any  one  at  the  expense  of  the  other. 

I 

4.  Much  of  this  field  should  be  reached  with  work  outside  the  Association  building — by  immigrant  work, 
various  forms  of  extension  work,  and  the  work  promoted  through  the  “Industrial  Service  Movement.” 

II.  Some  Principles. 

1.  As  to  employer  and  employee. 

In  relation  to  employer  and  em])loyee  the  Association  is  non-partisan  and  3X't  it  is  more  than  neutral. 
It  is  mutual.  We  should  not  cater  to  either  party,  but  shoukl  eliminate  partisan  fei'Iings,  action, 
and  talk  from  our  intercourse  with  industry.  The  Association’s  work  slioukl  be  confined  as  a  rule  to 
those  activities  which  benefit  both  employer  and  employee,  or  which  have  the  approval  of  both.  Our 
field  in  industry  lies,  as  Charles  R.  Towson  says,  “in  the  zone  of  agreements.” 

The  Association  will  cooperate  with  trade  unions  in  appropriate  forms  of  service  just  as  it  will  with 
manufacturers’  associations  and  boards  of  trade. 

2.  As  to  all-round  service. 

The  Association  should  render  its  all-round  service  and  deliver  its  full  message  in  each  field,  sur¬ 
rendering  no  phase  of  its  services — educational,  physical,  social  or  religious,  either  completely  or  to 
another  agency,  unless  the  other  agency  ckairl}"  does  this  work  better  than  we  can;  and  untler  no 
circumstances  surrendering  the  religious  part  of  our  })rogram.  It  is  for  this  that  we  exist. 

24 


3.  As  to  finances. 

Industry  holds  the  resources  to  meet  the  nec'ds  it  luis  creat('d.  Ultimately  the  cost  of  much  industrial 
work  will  be  paid  by  the  industries — not  by  the  Association.  This  means  the  employer  and  employee 
jointly — not  the  one  to  the  exclusion  of  the  other.  Industry  is  increasingly  showing  a  willingness  to 
cooperate  with  the  Association  in  financing  Industrial  Association  work. 

4.  As  to  lay  workers. 

If  ever  the  services  of  the  Association  are  to  be  adequate,  the  industrial  workers  themselves  must  be 
enlisted  and  trained  as  volunteer  leaders.  We  must  seek  to  develop  the  local  resources  within  the 
men  themselves,  giving  responsibility  and  expecting  results. 

5.  As  to  social  problems. 

The  attitude  of  the  Association  in  industrial  fields  toward  the  social  problems  of  the  day  is,  in  general, 
that  expressed  in  the  social  service  program  of  the  Federal  Council  of  Churches  of  Cdirist  in  America. 
Secure  this  from  C.  S.  Macfarland,  105  East  22nd  Street,  New  York  City. 

0.  As  to  the  relation  of  industrial  work  to  women  and  children. 

In  many  industrial  fields,  to  meet  properly  the  needs  of  the  industrial  worker,  he  must  be  considered 
in  connection  with  his  whole  family.  The  program  of  much  industrial  work  will  frequently  include 
provision  for  women  and  children.  The  fundamental  principle  that  the  Association  is  for  men  and 
boj's  only  finds  a  legitimate  exception  in  some  phases  of  industrial  work.  Under  these  circumstances 
care  must  be  exercised  to  see  that  the  Association  does  not  lose  its  distinctive  character  as  a  work  for 
men  and  boys. 


III.  Applications  of  the  Principle. 

There  are  six  fundamental  methods  of  serving  industrial  fields: 

1.  In  a  branch  of  a  City  Association,  located  so  as  to  serve  industrial  workers,  supported  by  the  com¬ 
munity  in  which  located. 

2.  In  a  building  provided  by  a  single  industry  or  group  of  industries,  supported  jointly  by  employer  and 
employees. 

3.  General  extension  work  conducted  by  a  City  Association,  financed  as  seems  best. 

4.  Specially  organized  Industrial  extension  work,  with  an  Industrial  Committee  and  an  Industrial  Sec¬ 
retary,  whose  budget  is  generally  provided  by  the  industries. 

5.  Plant  extension  work.  A  Secretary  attached  to  the  staff  of  a  local  Association  and  giving  all  or  part 
of  his  time  to  work  in  a  single  industry  or  plant. 

6.  The  System  Plan,  in  which  an  industry  having  several  plants  takes  the  full  time  of  a  Secretary  to 
establish  and  supervise  Association  work  in  the  several  plants.  There  may  also  be  a  Secretary  in 
each  plant,  under  the  Supervisory  Secretary. 


IV.  Guiding  Principles  in  Undertaking  Industrial  Work. 

1.  Know  the  local  industrial  field — make  a  survey,  but  do  not  get  lost  in  it. 

2.  Know  what  other  Associations  are  doing. 

3.  Adjust  the  plan  anti  activities  of  the  local  Association  to  fit  industrial  workers.  Three  things  will  be 
necessary — adaptation  of : 

a.  The  Association  facilities. 

b.  'File  Association  atmosphere. 

c.  The  plans  and  fees. 

4.  Secure  the  interest  of  the  employed  officers  of  the  local  Association  and  its  Board  of  Directors. 

5.  St'cure  the  financial  and  personal  cooperation  of  employer  and  employee,  largely  by  personal  contact 
and  conversation. 

6.  Learn  to  mix  with  and  like  the  ‘‘flannel  shirt”  groups,  and  to  understand  their  point  of  view. 

7.  Trained  Secretaries  adaptable  to  industrial  fields  are  essential. 

8.  Avoid  official  relations  to  the  industrial  workers,  as  representing  the  employer  in  welfare  work  for 

25 


('iii])lo3T('.  'Jlie  Asyociatioii  i)laii  is  an  urgaiiizatioii  representing  the  employee  as  well  as  tlie  employer. 
J3evelop  i)ersonal,  not  official,  contacts. 

0.  Study  methods  of  cooperating  with  other  agencies  in  industrial  fields,  without  surrendering  important 
elements  in  the  Association  plan. 

10.  Secure  and  study  the  new  booklet,  “Among  Industrial  Workers,”  issued  by  the  Industrial  Depart¬ 
ment  of  the  International  Committee  and  published  by  the  Association  Press  in  the  fall  of  1916. 


B.  MEN  AND  BOYS  IN  RURAL  FIELDS. 


Pefcrences:  “History  of  the  Y.  M.  C.  A.”  Morse.  238. 

“Field  Work  of  the  Y.  M.  C.  A.”  41. 

Cleveland  Convention  Report.  27. 

I.  The  Field  of  County  Work. 

1.  The  2,953  counties  in  the  United  States,  and  the  corresponding  units  in  Canada. 

2.  The  4,105,656  inhabitants  of  the  1,172  incorporated  places  of  2,500  to  5,000  population. 

3.  The  8,118,825  inhabitants  of  the  11,784  incorporated  places  of  less  than  2,500  population. 

4.  The  41,230,058  other  inhabitants  of  other  rural  territory,  the  “Open  Country.” 

5.  The  total  of  53,454,539  people,*  58.1  per  cent  of  the  entire  population  of  the  United  States. 

6.  The  7,483,635  males  from  twelve  to  twenty-five  years  old,  inclusive. 

7.  The  10,760,875  males  in  agricultural  pursuits,  working  6,361,502  farms,  worth  $40,991,449,090,  and 
l)roducing  annually  $8,296,741,000  worth  of  products. 

II.  General  Principles. 

1.  The  recognition  of  the  inherent  value  of  country  life  in  and  for  itself. 

2.  A  more  scientific  type  of  crop  production  and  farm  administration  as  esscaitial  to  greater  satisfaction 
in  rural  life. 

3.  A  redirected  educational  system  which  will  fit  for  life  in  the  countr}". 

4.  Better  health  and  sanitation  in  farm  homes  and  country  communities. 

5.  A  wholesome  development  of  the  recreative  life. 

6.  Increasing  the  power  of  the  Church. 

III.  Principles  of  Supervision,  Administration,  and  Promotion.. 

1.  The  organization  of  Associations  with  the  county  as  a  unit, 

2.  The  approach  to  the  rural  problem  a  community  approach. 

3.  A  recognition  of  the  resident  forces  as  the  redemptive  forces. 

4.  The  maximum  development  of  constructive  forces  in  community  lih'. 

5.  The  elimination  of  waste. 

6.  Cooperation  rather  than  competition. 

7.  A  task  for  every  man  and  a  man  for  every  task. 

8.  The  discovery,  enlistment,  and  training  and  utilization  of  volunteer  leadership. 

9.  Material  equipment  is  a  liability  compared  with  the  asset  of  a  personality  as  a  vital  center. 

10.  A  recognition  of  the  primary  institutions  of  the  community  as  the  home,  the  school,  and  the  church, 
and  the  Association  as  supplementary  thereto. 

11.  IMembershii)  is  based  uj)on  what  is  given  in  service  rather  than  what  is  secured  in  privileges. 

12.  A  dominance  of  Christian  ideals  in  tlie  character  of  the  manhood  and  boyhood  of  the  country. 

26 


C.  WORK  AMONG  STUDENTS. 


References :_“Hi.story  of  the  Y.  M.  C.  A.”  Morse.  187. 

“Field  and  Work  of  the  Y.  M.  C.  A.”  25. 
Cleveland  Convention  Report.  29. 


I.  The  Field. 

1.  The  1,390  institutions  of  higher  learning — collegiate,  graduate,  and  professional,  enrolling  227,103 
male  students;  and  the  corresponding  student  body  of  Canada. 

2.  The  2,199  private  secondary  schools  in  the  Ihiited  States,  enrolling  80,047  boys;  and  the  correspond¬ 
ing  secondary  schools  of  Canada. 

3.  In  a  more  remote  way,  in  cooperation  with  Boys’  Departments,  the  boys  in  public  high  schools. 

II.  Distinctive  Significance. 

1.  The  leaders  in  American  life — business,  civic,  and  professional,  are  increasingly  being  drawn  from 
college  graduates.  It  is  of  vital  importance  to  the  nation  that  this  significant  group  of  men  become 
followers  of  Christ  and  members  of  the  Church,  that  their  leadership  and  service  may  be  Christian. 

III.  Fundamentals. 

1 .  The  Student  Association  work  is  based  on  undergraduate  initiative  and  direction.  It  is  not  a  mission 
from  without,  but  an  indigenous  movement  within  the  student  body.  Students  are  recognized  as  a 
group  having  peculiar  needs,  best  reached  as  a  group,  and  most  effectively  by  their  own  companions. 

2.  The  Association  occupies  an  important  place  in  the  student  field.  It  can  there  serve  the  interests  of 
the  Kingdom  of  God  and  of  the  Church  better  than  the  Church  itself  by  its  ordinary  processes,  or  in 
its  regularly  organized  form.  In  this  connection,  however,  the  Association  looks  upon  itself  as  the 
means  and  the  Church  as  the  end.  In  its  relation  to  the  evangelical  churches,  the  Student  Association 
cooperates  with  them,  using  every  effort  to  relate  men  to  the  Church  as  members  and  workers. 

3.  The  Student  Association  aims  to  reach  each  student  generation  as  freshmen,  and  hold  them  through¬ 
out  their  college  life,  and  to  send  them  out  trained  for  Christian  service.  Four  college  classes  effec¬ 
tively  reached  in  this  way  make  the  atmosphere  of  the  institution  predominantly  Christian  and 
friendly  to  the  Association. 

4.  College  life  is  not  just  a  preparation  for  life,  but  is  a  part  of  life  itself.  Realizing  that  permanent 
habits  and  relationsliips  are  established  while  in  college,  the  Association  aims  to  develop  in  men  the 
fundamental  Christian  habits  of  daily  Bible  study  and  prayer,  church  membership,  interest  in  mis¬ 
sions,  and  the  giving  of  money  and  time  to  Christian  work. 

5  The  Student  Association  recognizes  the  value  of  great  evangelistic  and  social  service  campaigns  con¬ 
ducted  within  the  university  itself  as  a  means  of  winning  college  men  to  be  disciples  of  Jesus  and 
workers  in  His  Church.  These  campaigns  are  not  isolated  events,  but  part  of  a  unified  program. 

0.  Special  effort  is  made  to  interest  men  in  the  world-wide  extension  of  Christianity,  and  to  lead  stu¬ 
dents  into  a  permanent  interest  in  missions,  based  on  definite  information  about  other  lands. 

,  7.  The  training  of  the  future  lay  leaders  of  the  Church  is  recognized  as  one  of  the  big  opportunities  be¬ 

fore  the  Student  Association. 

8.  The  obligation  to  recruit  men  for  the  ministry,  the  Association  secretaryship,  and  to  be  foreign  mis¬ 
sionaries  is  recognized,  and  efforts  to  this  end  are  systematically  promoted. 

9.  The  Association  promotes  the  study  of  the  social  problem  and  enlists  students  in  social  service,  both 
on  and  beyond  the  campus;  the  Industrial  Service  Movement  is  an  illustration  of  this. 

10.  The  opportunity  of  helping  to  Christianize  other  nations,  by  winning  to  the  Christian  life  foreign 
students  resident  in  American  colleges,  is  recognized.  Special  efforts  are  made  to  serve  these  foreign 
students. 

11.  The  Student  Association  feels  it  to  be  part  of  its  duty  to  find  employment  for  students  having  insuffi¬ 
cient  funds  to  carry  them  through  school. 

12.  The  Association  seeks  to  make  college  life  Christian,  not  only  by  winning  individual  students  to 

27 


Christ,  but  by  systematic  efforts  to  eliminate  evil  college  customs  and  to  establish  a  college  standard 
favorable  to  Christ. 

13.  The  cooperation  of  the  university  officers  and  faculty  is  sought  as  an  important  factor  in  the  work  of 
the  Association. 

14.  The  Student  Association  emphasizes  service  more  than  privileges  in  enlisting  men  in  membership. 

15.  The  Student  Association  seeks  to  project  itself  in  two  directions  beyond  college  walls. 

a.  To  reach  boys  before  they  enter  college,  it  tries  to  make  its  influence  felt  in  the  life  of  high  schools 
and  preparatory  schools. 

b.  To  follow  men  after  they  leave  college,  it  endeavors  to  relate  each  year’s  alumni  to  the  Christian 
work  of  the  community  to  which  each  alumnus  goes. 

16.  The  secretaryship  of  the  Student  Association  is  increasingly  being  recognized  as  a  life  work.  The 
need  of  experienced  and  trained  men  as  permanent  secretaries  of  Student  Associations  has  become 
recognized  as  a  fundamental. 


D.  WORK  FOR  COLORED  MEN. 

References:  “History  of  the  Y.  M.  C.  A.”  Morse.  226. 

“Field  and  Work  of  the  Y.  M.  C.  A.”  53. 

“Present  Forces  in  Negro  Progress.”  Weatherford.  167. 


I.  The  Field. 

1.  The  10,000,000  colored  people  in  the  United  States,  10.7  per  cent  of  the  whole  population.  No  North¬ 
ern  State  has  as  many  as  5  per  cent  colored  population,  but  in  the  South  the  colored  population  runs 
from  11  per  cent  in  Kentucky  to  more  than  50  per  cent  in  Mississippi  and  South  Carolina.  A  few 
Northern  cities,  however,  have  large  colored  populations,  such  as  Chicago  and  St.  Louis. 

2.  There  are  seven  cities  of  over  10,000  population  whose  population  is  25  per  cent  or  more  colored 
])eople.  In  addition  to  this,  there  are  twenty-one  cities  of  from  25,000  to  100,000  population,  in 
which  the  colored  people  are  25  per  cent  or  more  of  the  population. 

3.  49.5  per  cent  of  all  colored  people  in  America  are  males.  Of  these  males  2,500,000  are  twenty-one 
years  old  and  older,  and  2,000,000  fall  within  the  ages  of  eighteen  to  forty-four. 

II.  Policies. 

1.  The  work  for  colored  men  and  boys  is  practically  a  duplication  of  the  work  of  the  Association  in 
general,  for  it  necessarily  must  have  its  Student  Work  in  the  colleges.  Industrial  Work,  County  Work, 
Physical,  Educational,  etc.,  to  meet  the  needs  of  this  particular  group  of  our  population. 

2.  This  department  differs  from  others  in  that  it  not  only  deals  with  practically  all  the  usual  Association 
problems,  but  it  is  also  environed  by  a  serious  racial  problem. 

3.  Working  with  colored  men  has  been  found  far  more  effective  than  working  for  them.  Forces  and 
leadership  within  the  colored  population  itself  must  be  discovered  and  developed.  The  complete 
development  of  colored  men  increases  as  race  consciousness  and  self-respect  grow.  The  Associations 
for  colored  men  work  to  produce  this  feeling  of  racial  solidarity  and  dignity. 

♦ 

4.  The  Colored  Associations  aim  to  produce  mutual  respect  and  confidence  between  the  white  and 
colored  people  in  the  communities  in  which  they  operate. 

5.  The  Colored  Associations  seek  to  secure  for  colored  men  buildings  affording  colored  men  opportunities 
equal  to  those  enjoyed  by  their  white  fellow  citizens. 

6.  Constant  effort  is  made  by  this  department,  as  by  others,  to  keep  in  close  touch  and  harmony  with 
the  Church. 

E.  WORK  FOR  RAILROAD  MEN. 

References:  “Railroad  Association  Work.” 

“History  of  the  North  American  Young  Men’s  Christian  Associations.”  Morse.  207-13. 

“The  Modern  Railroad.”  Hungerford. 

28 


“Railways  in  the  United  States/’  Sterne. 

“The  Care  of  a  House.”  Clark. 

“The  Working  of  the  Railroads.”  McPherson. 

“Railway  Problems.”  Ripley. 

I.  The  Field  of  the  Railroad  Department. 

1.  The  2,000,000  railroad  men  of  the  United  States  and  Canada. 

2.  The  railroad  men  of  Mexico,  South  America,  China,  Japan,  India,  etc. 

3.  The  sons  of  all  railroad  men  in  the  countries  mentioned  above. 

4.  The  families  of  railroad  men — carrying  on  a  type  of  community  work — wherever  possible. 

5.  The  375,000  employees  of  over  1,000  Street  Railway  Companies  of  the  United  States  and  Canada, 
together  with  their  families. 

II.  Fundamental  Principles. 

1.  A  recognition  of  the  importance  of  conducting  an  all-around  type  of  work  carefully  adapted  to  the 
peculiar  needs  of  the  men  served  by  the  Railroad  Department. 

2.  A  fearless  declaration  of  the  fundamental  Christian  truths  for  which  the  Young  Men’s  Christian 
Association  stands. 

3.  A  thorough  study  of  the  business  of  railroading  to  become  acquainted  with  its  history,  development, 
operation,  and  problems. 

4.  A  spirit  of  cooperation  established  between  employer  and  employee,  as  illustrated  by  each  bearing  a 
share  of  the  cost  of  buildings  and  the  expense  of  operation. 

5.  A  business  administration  of  the  Railroad  Association  of  a  standard  that  will  compare  favorably  with 
that  of  the  railroad  corporations. 

0.  An  attractive,  clean,  and  well-ordered  building  providing  a  comfortable  home  for  the  railroad  man 
away  from  home,  giving  him  the  advantages  of  a  wholesome  Christian  atmosphere. 

7.  An  effort  to  serve  the  sons  and  families  of  the  railroad  men  wherever  possible;  the  work  of  the  Rail¬ 
road  Association,  under  those  conditions,  a  type  of  community  work. 

8.  The  supervision  of  the  Railroad  Association  work  by  a  division  of  the  whole  American  field  into  dis¬ 
tricts  with  a  traveling  secretary  of  the  Railroad  Department  of  the  International  Committee  assigned 
to  each  district,  and  by  cordial  cooperation  with  State  and  territorial  committees. 

9.  The  Railroad  Brotherhood  kept  thoroughly  advised  on  all  Association  matters  by  means  of  lectures, 
printed  matter,  and  by  the  generous  use  of  Railroad  Association  Magazine,  the  official  publication 
of  the  Railroad  Department. 

III.  Adaptations. 

1.  By  establishing  a  point  of  contact  with  the  Railroad  Companies  at  the  earliest  possible  stage,  such  as 
the  pioneer  work  for  the  Government  Railroad  in  Alaska  and  the  construction  camp  work. 

2.  By  recognizing  the  need  for  Association  work  among  the  neediest  classes  of  railroad  men,  as  evidenced 
by  the  work  for  the  colored  men  at  Bluefield,  Virginia. 

3.  By  doing  work  for  special  foreign  groups  of  railroad  men,  as  Japanese,  Mexicans,  and  others. 

F.  WORK  FOR  ARMY  AND  NAVY  MEN. 

References:  “History  of  North  American  Y.  M.  C.  A.”  R.  C.  Morse.  Pp.  219-2G. 

“Fifty  Years  of  Federation.”  R.  C.  Morse.  P.  68. 

“Christian  Work  for  Men  and  Boys  as  Carried  on  by  Young  Men’s  Christian  Associations.” 

Pp.  47-52. 

Report  of  Army  and  Navy  Department,  1899. 

“Ten  Years  with  the  Army  and  Navy;  Jubilee  of  Work  for  Young  Men,  Boston  Convention 

Report.”  Pp.  152-66. 


29 


I.  Field. 


1.  United  States  Army,  131,752  men. 

Various  service  bills  now  being  discussed  will  increase  this  to  possibly  500,000  men  in  training  with 
2,500,000  reservists. 

2.  United  States  Navy,  101,019  men. 

3.  National  Guard: 

United  States,  129,398  men. 

4.  Training  Camps: 

Contemplated  for  1917,  57,000  men. 

From  5,000  up  to  500,000  boys  of  the  one  million  reaching  the  age  of  eighteen  each  year. 

II.  Unusual  Characteristics  of  the  Army  and  Navy  Field. 

1.  Army  and  Navy  national  in  character. 

2.  Authority,  custom,  and  methods  follow  analogy  of  Federal  Government,  with  centralized  authority 
and  relationship.  General  relationship  must  therefore  be  through  one  channel  of  communication  to 
headquarters  at  Washington  (Acts  of  Congress — Revocable  License,  Quartermaster  Department, 
Transportation,  Assignment  of  Sites,  etc.) 

3.  Enlisted  men  form  a  contrasted  field  to  City  Association  in  these  respects: 

Uniform  in  age,  mentality,  and  training. 

Abnormal  in  environment  and  life. 

Subject  to  strict  discipline. 

Clothed  in  national  uniform. 

Easily  shifted  from  place  to  place. 

Unusual  group  consciousness. 

III.  Finances. 

1.  Navy. 

a.  Need  for  ample  provision  for  temporary  sleeping  quarters  necessitates  large  buildings  operated  on 
a  twenty-four  hour  basis,  involving  liberal  budgets. 

1).  Fleet  movements  result  in  crowded  conditions  followed  by  greatly  reduced  use  of  buildings, 
c.  Secretarial  and  operating  force  must  be  organized,  budget  adopted,  and  equipment  secured  to 
meet  these  conditions. 

2.  Army. 

a.  In  the  Army  a  larger  degree  of  permanency  and  regularity  exists  and  smaller  buildings  and  bud¬ 
gets  are  feasible. 

b.  Limited  pay  (about  $13  per  month)  makes  impracticable  any  material  income  from  the  soldiers 
themselves  and  necessitates  larger  proportionate  contributions  to  total  budget. 

3.  National. 

Ample  general  provision  must  be  made  for  national  finances,  either  through  large  endowment  or 
otherwise,  owing  to  the  fact  that  many  branches  are  isolated  and  can  never  be  self-supporting;  and 
self-supporting  branches  are  subject  to  occasional,  sudden,  and  complete  depletion  of  constituency, 
necessitating  national  aid. 

IV.  Methods. 

1.  Being  deprived  of  home  life,  the  men  require  ample  provision  for  social  comforts,  ample  substitutes 
for  temptation  in  the  way  of  amusements  and  recreation,  and  organized  provision  for  the  best  use  of 
leisure  time. 

2.  Committee  service  should  not  only  be  based  on  the  temporary  and  local  opportunity  afforded  at  any 
one  point,  but  should  be  coordinated  and  nationalized  as  far  as  practicable  so  as  to  utilize  enlisted 
men  at  various  posts  and  stations  in  similar  lines  of  service. 

30 


V.  General  Principles. 


1.  Technical  Approach. 

a.  The  field  should  be  studied  from  the  standpoint  of  the  Army  and  Navy  and  the  technical  needs 
of  the  men. 

b.  Methods  should  be  adapted  to  the  accessibility  and  abnormal  environment  of  the  enlisted  per¬ 
sonnel. 

c.  All-round  service  must  be  rendered  in  the  light  of  a  changing  personnel,  shifting  constituency, 
and  irregular  use  of  activities.  (Captain  Plunket:  “Thirty-five  per  cent  of  officers  and  men  are 
shifted  each  year  on  a  battleship.”) 

d.  Large  numbers  of  enlisted  men  fail  to  re-enlist  after  term  of  three  years  in  the  Army  and  four 
years  in  the  Navy. 

e.  This  necessitates: 

(1)  Brief  courses  in  educational  classes,  Bible  classes,  and  physical  work. 

(2)  Coordination  of  methods  and  privileges  between  branches. 

(3)  National  membership. 

(4)  National  organizations,  like  Enlisted  Men’s  Bible  and  Prayer  League,  Total  Abstinence 
League,  etc. 

f.  Buildings  and  methods  should  be  used  for  the  entire  personnel  rather  than  for  either  a  local  en¬ 
listed  constituency  or  any  group,  such  as  a  membership  group. 

g.  While  membership  is  feasible  and  desirable,  it  should  be  on  the  basis  of  service  rather  than  priv¬ 
ilege,  and  in  no  sense  should  it  be  exclusive,  as  the  nominal  constituency  of  the  Army  and  Navy 
Associations  is  the  entire  enlisted  personnel  passing  through  their  fields. 

h.  This  entire  group  is  a  selected  constituency,  as  it  is  uniform  as  to  age,  profession,  national  rela¬ 
tionship,  and  peculiar  need. 

2.  Government  and  Officers. 

The  Association  stands  for  the  enlisted  man  and  his  best  all-round  development.  While  therefore; 
always  projecting  its  work  from  the  standpoint  of  the  enlisted  man,  it  must  always  regard  official 
relationship,  military  discipline,  and  exigency.  Its  opportunity  exists  largely  therefore  in  the  leisure 
and  off-duty  time  of  the  men.  While  recognizing  its  activities  for  the  good  of  the  men,  it  necessarily 
conserves  also  the  interests  of  the  Government  and  of  the  Army  and  Navy,  inasmuch  as  whatever 
develops  better  men  produces  more  efficient  soldiers  and  sailors. 

VI.  Organization. 

1.  Navy. 

From  the  beginning,  in  1898,  only  one  form  of  organization  has  been  found  feasible — that  is,  a  na¬ 
tional  Navy  organization  with  a  national  board  of  managers,  at  present  coincident  with  the  Army 
and  Navy  Committee  of  the  International  Committee.  Each  branch  of  this  national  organization  is 
administered  by  a  local  committee  of  management  composed  of  local  business  men.  Owing  to  the 
peculiar  situation  and  national  character  there  is  no  active  membership  for  the  enlisted  personnel  in 
either  Army  or  Navy,  but  the  active  membership  is  confined  to  members  of  the  committee  of  man¬ 
agement  of  the  various  branches. 

2.  Army. 

Three  methods  of  organization  have  been  followed  in  the  Army : 

a.  As  branches  of  City  Associations. 

b.  As  branches  of  State  Committees. 

c.  As  branches  of  the  International  Committee  under  national  plan  as  followed  in  the  Navy. 

After  years  of  experimentation,  no  Associations  are  left  under  State  Committees,  and  today  only 
four  City  Associations  are  continuing  to  administer  Army  branches.  The  reasons  for  this  are 
apparently  found  in  the  national  characteristics  already  mentioned  and  possibly  indicate  that 
the  natural  basis  of  organization  is  a  national  plan,  as  in  the  Navy. 

3.  Secretaries. 

a.  Must  have  technical  training. 

b.  Must  possess  knowledge  of  the  service. 

c.  Must  be  kept  in  close  touch  with  national  standards  and  tlepartment  methoils  and  should  be 
subject  to  quick  and  easy  transfer. 


31 


4.  National. 


A  national  organization  is  necessary.  A  very  large  section  of  the  field  will  always  be  isolated  from 
existing  Association  agencies.  This  includes: 

Shipboard  Work. 

Expeditionary  Work. 

National  Encampments. 

Emergency  Work  (such  as  at  Texas  Border). 

Manoeuver  Work. 

Foreign  Work  (Alaska,  Hawaii,  Philippine  Islands,  China,  Canal  Zone). 

Isolated  Posts  and  Stations. 

Of  forty-eight  unorganized  Army  posts,  only  eleven  are  near  organized  City  Associations,  the  other 
thirty-seven  being  at  places  that  will  never  have  regular  City  Associations. 

G.  WORK  FOR  BOYS. 

Ileferences:  “Boy  Life  and  Self-Government.”  G.  Walter  Fiske. 

“Adolescent  Boyhood.”  Hanford  M.  Burr. 

“Boyology.”  H.  W.  Gibson. 

“Wage-Earning  Boys.”  Clarence  C.  Robinson. 

“Community  Work.”  Frank  H.  T.  Ritchie. 

High  School  Pamphlets.  Arthur  N.  Cotton. 

“History  of  the  Y.  M.  C.  A.”  Morse.  233-238. 

Files  of  Association  Boys  and  American  Youth. 

(See  also  special  list  of  books  published  by  Association  Press.) 

I.  The  Boys’  Work  Field. 

The  Boys’  Division  of  the  Young  Men’s  Christian  Association  properly  relates  itself  to 
hood  life  of  the  community  between  twelve  and  eighteen  years  of  age.  In  many  cases  the 
retains  its  contact  with  boys  until  the  end  of  the  high  school  course,  even  though  this  be  as 
Employed  boys’  groups,  likewise,  composed  of  boys  sixteen  to  twenty,  are  increasingly  being 
Boys’  Divisions.  In  a  few  Associations  the  Boys’  Work  Secretary  maintains  a  relationship  to  the  so-called 
Intermediate  group,  namely,  those  who  are  eighteen  to  twenty-one  years  of  age. 

Besides  age  groups,  the  Boys’  Division  deals  with  interest  groups,  such  as  Employed  Boys,  Grade  School 
Boys,  and  High  School  Boys;  with  geographical  groups  as  found  in  community  and  district  community  areas; 
wdth  occupational  groups,  such  as  messenger  boys,  department  store  boys;  with  race  groups  such  as  colored 
boys,  Italian  boys;  with  less  fortunate  groups,  such  as  court  charges,  including  dependent,  defective,  and  de¬ 
linquent  boys.  The  Association  ministers  to  the  highly-privileged,  the  privileged,  and  the  non-privileged 
boys  of  the  community. 

II.  Fundamental  Principles. 

1.  The  boy’s  needs. 

The  Association  should  render  its  maximum  service  to  the  boy  at  the  point  of  his  greatest  need, 
whether  this  is  accomplished  by  (a)  directly  touching  his  life,  or  by  (b)  indirectly  touching  his  life 
Ihrough  other  agencies  renth'red  more  effective  by  Association  cooperation.  The  good  of  the  boy 
should  be  paramount  to  the  good  of  the  Association  or  other  ag('ney. 

2.  All-round  development. 

'Fhe  work  should  be  symmetrical,  bringing  the  boy  to  a  rounded  maturity;  illustrated  for  instance, 
in  the  American  Standard  Program  and  the  Canadian  Standard  Efficiency  Tests,  in  which  provision 
is  made  for  the  definite  development  of  the  boy  along  mental,  physical,  social,  and  spiritual  lines. 

3.  By  boys  for  boys. 

The  work  should  be  with  boys  rather  than  for  boys;  this  should  evolve  into  work  hy  boys  for  other 
boys. 

4.  Personal  growth  and  social  outreach. 

The  work  should  be  (a)  individual,  with  a  view  to  securing  for  each  boy  the  development  he  particu¬ 
larly  needs  to  reach  symmetrical  manhood,  and  should  be  (b)  social,  with  a  view  to  relating  each 
boy  most  helpfully  to  his  home,  his  school  or  Avork,  his  church,  his  companions,  and  his  leisure  time 
recreations. 


the  entire  boy- 
Boys’  Division 
late  as  twenty, 
reached  by  the 


5.  Associated  elTort. 

The  group  of  boys  known  as  Association  members  sliould  be  associated  in  reality,  and  not  in  name 
only,  in  the  common  cause  of  allegiance  to  the  Christian  ideal  and  of  service,  rather  than  gathered 
together  as  privilege-buyers.  This  does  not  prevent  a  second  group  being  related  to  the  Association 
as  privilege-buyers,  who  by  this  means  may  be  brought  into  contact  M'ith  Association  influence. 

6.  High-grade  leadership. 

The  highest  grade  leadership  obtainable,  both  secretarial  and  lay,  will  be  required  to  carry  on  the 
work,  in  order  that  Association  contact  with  the  boy  should  bring  to  him  the  greatest  possible  en¬ 
couragement  in  all  elements  of  character-building,  such  as  punctuality,  honor,  purity  of  life,  thrift, 
unselfishness.  These  ideals  will  best  be  imparted  to  him  through  personal  contact. 

7.  An  agency  of  the  Church. 

The  Association  should  conduct  itself  as  an  agency  of  the  Church :  (a)  supplementing  the  work  of  the 
(fliurch  with  church  boys,  and  (b)  reaching  large  numbers  of  boys  not  now  reached  by  the  Church 
and  helping  them  to  become  working  members  of  the  Church.  Thus  the  Association  should  be  ac¬ 
cepted  as  one  clearly  defined  expression  of  the  Christian  Church  in  specified  work  with  boys. 

8.  For  Christ  and  the  Church. 

The  Association’s  greatest  contribution  to  the  boy  must  alwa5'^8  be  counted  as  the  ability  to  join  with 
others  in  leading  him  to  a  personal  relationship  with  Jesus  Christ  as  Saviour,  into  fellowship  with 
the  Christian  Church,  and  into  definite  service  in  the  Christian  cause. 


XIV.  SOCIAL  SERVICE  PRINCIPLES. 

References:  “Life  of  McBurney.”  Doggett.  145. 

“Religious  Work  for  Men.”  Bronxville  Report.  101. 

Messer’s  Silver  Bay  Paper,  1912.  30. 

“Association  Hand-book.”  70. 

“Principles  and  Organization.”  Murray.  33. 

“Principles  and  Methods  of  Religious  Work.”  Atlantic  City  edition.  135-141. 

I.  General  Observations. 

1.  Jesus  sought  to  transform  society  by  transforming  individuals. 

2.  Jesus  also  sought  to  transform  those  social  conditions  which  destroy  life. 

3.  The  Association  has  an  obligation  along  this  line  of  changing  social  conditions. 

4.  Social  service  is  the  most  difficult  and  most  dangerous  of  all  religious  work.  A  worker  easily  loses  his 
balance:  it  is  easy  to  go  astray;  it  is  easy  to  “see  red”  and  act  unwisely.  The  solution  of  difficult 
problems  is  frequently  undertaken  without  sufficient  experience  or  training. 

II.  The  Association’s  Attitude  Toward  Social  Service. 

1.  “What  impressed  the  young  men  from  Montreal  and  Boston  and  led  them  to  organize  the  first  Asso- 
tions  in  North  America  on  the  London  plan  was  the  combination  in  that  plan  of  effective  religious 
appeal  with  a  humanitarian  social  service  emphasis  upon  a  better  environment  for  the  tempted  young 
man.” — “History  of  the  Y.  M.  C.  A.”  Morse. 

2.  At  the  1871  International  Convention  the  following  resolution  was  adopted: 

“Resolved,  That  Young  Men’s  Christian  Associations  are  organized  specially  to  labor  for  and 
among  young  men;  that  they  constitute  a  Union  Board  of  the  Church  of  Christ,  charged  with  the 
performance  of  a  specific  duty;  that  in  the  prosecution  of  their  work,  the  Associations,  as  such,  have 
no  politics,  and  know  no  distinctions  among  men  except  between  those  who  love  Christ  and  those 
who  love  Him  not;  and  that  it  does  not  fall  within  the  sphere  of  their  duties  to  take  part  in  any  con¬ 
troversy,  or  to  make  official  deliverance  upon  any  topic,  however  commendable  in  itself,  or  however 
it  may  appeal  to  the  Christian  or  humanitarian  sympathies  of  individuals,  which  does  not  relate 
directly  to  the  work  of  evangelization  among  young  men  by  the  agencies  appropriate  to  their  own 
organization.” 

3.  In  1888  McBurney  gave  as  a  settled  principle: 

“When  questions  of  moral  reform  become  political  party  questions,  our  Associations,  as  such,  can 
have  no  connection  with  them.” 


33 


4. 


Tlic  lironxville  Ki'port  of  11)07,  afior  iiidicjitiiig  certain  tyi^es  of  social  service  thought  to  be  expe¬ 
dient,  says: 

“p]xpcricnce  conclusively  shows  that  the  Associations,  as  such,  ought  not  to  engage  in  the  following 
kinds  of  service  designed  for  social  betterment: 

a.  Movements  to  secure  the  enactment  of  laws. 

b.  The  enforcement  of  present  laws. 

c.  The  settlement  of  disputes  between  capital  and  labor. 

d.  Movements  of  a  political  nature.”  (Religious  Work  for  Men,  p.  101.) 


5.  Mr.  Messer,  in  his  recommendations  to  the  Employed  Officers’  Conference  at  Silver  Bay  in  1912,  ad¬ 
vocated  a  continuance  of  this  conservative  position.  (Relation  of  the  Employed  Officer  to  the  Present- 
day  Problems  of  the  North  American  Associations,  30-33.) 


6.  The  Men  and  Religion  Forward  Movement  resulted  in  many  of  our  Secretaries  feeling  a  duty  to  take 
a  more  aggressive  stand  in  matters  of  social  betterment,  and  to  be  willing  to  relate  the  Association 
more  actively  to  the  changing  of  fundamentally  wrong  social  conditions. 

7.  The  Religious  Work  hand-book,  resulting  from  the  Atlantic  City  Conference  of  1913,  reflects  this 
changing  attitude  toward  social  service,  by  the  omission  of  the  warnings  and  prohibitions  of  the  1907 
Bronxville  Report,  and  states  that  “the  Association,  by  its  very  form  of  organization,  believes  in  the 
unity  of  man,  in  the  saving  of  the  whole  man,  and,  to  this  end,  the  betterment  of  his  environment. 
Thus,  the  program  of  its  service  must  seek  to  include  all  the  forces  which  bear  upon  the  life  and  spirit 
of  man  for  his  uplift.” 

Since  that  time  many  Associations  and  Association  Secretaries  have  taken  a  more  active  part  in 
reform  movements,  especially  the  Temperance  Movement.  The  attitude  of  a  number  of  leaders  is 
changing.  However,  the  historic  position  of  the  Association,  of  non-affiliation  with  other  agencies 
and  movements,  should  be  abandoned,  in  any  specific  instance,  only  after  the  most  careful  considera¬ 
tion  of  all  that  is  involved;  for  it  is  this  policy  of  non-affiliation  that  has  enabled  us  to  unite  for  our 
own  specific  purpose  men  of  divergent  religious,  social,  economic,  and  political  views. 


III.  Characteristics  of  an  Association  Social  Service  Program. 


1.  A  positive  program  to  promote  constructive  agencies  or  institutions. 

2.  A  “fighting”  program,  striking  at  evils  that  destroy  men  and  boys. 

3.  An  educational  program  to  inform  as  to  evils  and  cures. 

4.  A  cooperative  program,  working  with,  or  through,  other  agencies. 

5.  A  sane,  well-considered  program. 


IV.  Factors  in  Social  Life  to  Which  We  Have  a  Relation. 

1.  The  Home — ^to  make  it  universal,  Christian,  reproductive,  permanent,  sanitary. 

2.  The  School— to  make  it  available  for  all,  practical  in  training  for  life,  used  more  generally  by  the 
whole  community. 

3.  The  Church — to  make  it  a  factor  in  promoting  social  righteousness,  a  factor  in  the  lives  of  all  the 
people. 

The  State — to  make  it  moral  and  righteous,  representing  the  people;  serving  all  the  people. 

Health — to  make  it  general,  by  i>ronioting  sanitation,  hygiene,  rcicreation,  prevention  of  disease, 
droi)ping  of  quack  ads,  temperance,  sick  visitation,  etc. 

Work  or  Employment — to  make  it  available,  safe,  profitable,  efficient,  permanent,  remunerative,  and 
affording  promotion. 

7.  Play — to  make  it  available  for  all,  moral,  safe,  character-building. 

The  Association  can  have  a  relation  to  each  of  these  factors  in  social  life  by  promoting  a  constructive 
program  and  by  fighting  evils  which  destroy  the  home,  the  school,  the  church,  the  state,  health,  work, 
and  play. 


4. 


0. 


34 


XV.  RELATION  TO  THE  MISSIONARY  ENTERPRISE. 


Roforoncos:  “Principles  and  Methods  of  Religious  Work.”  143-152. 

“History  of  the  Y.  M.  C.  A.”  Morse.  133-136,  193-205,  261-273. 

“Principles  and  Organization.”  Murray.  35-36. 

Cleveland  Convention  Report.  171-174,  364-396. 

I.  The  Principle  Stated. 

1 .  The  North  American  Associations  are  under  moral  and  spiritual  obligation  to  extend  their  work  into 
non-Christian  lands. 

2.  We  have  a  stewardship  of  methods,  men,  money,  and  ideals. 

3.  We  owe  it  to  our  members  to  interest  them  in  this  big  enterprise,  foreign  missions. 

4.  All  arguments  for  the  Association  being  established  in  America  apply  on  the  foreign  field:  ease  of 
approach  to  young  men,  interdenominational,  etc. 

II.  The  Principle  Recognized. 


At  the  Cleveland  Convention  of  1916,  in  a  now  historic  resolution,  the  local  Associations  decided  to  as¬ 
sume  a  larger  share  of  the  responsibility  of  the  foreign  work  than  they  had  ever  before  carried.  This  was  the 
result  of  the  work  of  a  special  commission,  with  L.  Wilbur  Messer,  of  Chicago,  as  Chairman,  and  was  in  no 
small  measure  the  outcome  of  Mr.  Messer’s  personal  inspection  of  many  of  the  foreign  Associations.  The 
resolution  is  printed  in  full  on  page  173  of  the  Cleveland  Convention  Report.  Its  first  paragraph  reads : 

“That  the  North  American  Associations  recognize  and  hereby  declare  that  the  obligation  for  the  foreign 
work  program  rests  primarily  upon  our  Associations,  and  that  each  Association  annually,  through  its  Board 
of  Directors,  should  adopt  an  adequate  foreign  work  program.” 

The  rest  of  the  recommendation  has  to  do  with  methods  of  making  this  policy  effective.  The  whole  report 
should  be  read,  364-396,  Cleveland  Convention  Report. 


III. 


Policies. 


Among  other  standard  policies,  the  following  three  are  fundamental : 

1.  Our  Foreign  Secretaries  are  stationed  only  in  those  countries  where  the  missionaries  with  unanimity 
invite  and  urge  such  cooperation.  (Cleveland  Convention  Report,  365.) 

2.  The  policy  of  the  Foreign  Department  is: 

“To  plant  and  develop  self-supporting,  self-governing,  and  self-propagating  Young  Men’s  Christian 
Associations,  or  unions  of  Associations,  and  to  hold  them  to  the  fundamental  aims  of  the  Young 
Men’s  Christian  Association.” 

3.  Each  American  Association  should  be  related  to  some  foreign  Association,  carrying  all  or  part  of  a 
Secretary’s  budget,  or  the  whole  staff  of  an  Association,  or,  as  in  the  case  of  Detroit,  taking  responsi¬ 
bility  for  a  whole  country  (Turkey). 

4.  See  the  Cleveland  Convention  Report,  173,  for  elements  in  the  policy  of  a  local  Association. 


XVI.  THE  CONSTITUTION. 


This  course  might  well  include  a  careful  detailed  study  of  the  Association  constitution,  taking  up  both 
the  local  one  and  the  model  constitution  published  by  the  Association  Press. 


35 


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